Amy’s Greenhouse at Barnard Early Childhood Center is the perfect space for hands-on learning projects–and inspiration too.
After reading “Sneezy the Snowman,” a story about a snowman who melts, Kathleen Connolly’s pre-school students brainstormed about what else could melt. They happened to have a stash of soap that was given to their teacher by a parent, one thing led to another, and a service project was born.
The students plan to make 100 new soaps to mark the 100th day of school on February 13. Their efforts were joined by Deatra Bailey’s second graders who will be infusing it into their studies on phases of matter and taking inventories. “The children will be making cards to send along with the soap to the grandmas and grandpas.”
The soaps will be donated to United Hebrew of New Rochelle and Hope Community Services.
The greenhouse, created in memory of the daughter of former pre-K teacher Geraldine Davie, Amy O’Doherty, who was lost in the World Trade towers, is a special place at Barnard, “It’s a wonderful space to take the children: it's a place of kindness. They respond to the joy, the light, and the fresh air,” said Ms. Connolly. “When they came up with the idea to share the soap, it was a perfect reflection of the kindness that Amy’s Greenhouse was designed to inspire.”