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Taken from a letter sent to Judy Kronmeyer from Linda Biondi, Pond Road Middle School, Robbinsville:
Imagine being given the unique opportunity to wake up early in the summer to attend a workshop for three consecutive weeks, then returning home to cook dinner, run errands, and "relax" with some heavy duty reading homework-and wanting to come back the next day for more. This summer a dozen teachers representing the "Greater Trenton Area" met at Rider University with a common goal of improving student writing abilities. The National Writing Project (NWP) at Rider University (TAWP) is a professional development network that serves teachers of writing at all grade levels, and in all subjects. The mission of the NWP is "to improve student achievement by improving the teaching of writing and improving learning in the nation's schools". During the Summer Institute participants explored writing in various genres, and examined strategies for using writing across the curriculum in such areas as social studies, the sciences, and mathematics.
One of the highlights of the Institute was the arrival of the Community Outreach quilt trunk, courtesy of the State Quilt Guild of NJ. Two of the participants had previously used the Traveling Trunk with their students and shared their experiences with the rest of the teachers. Kelly Vogel, one of the participants enthusiastically showed the quilt that her students had made, and provided guidelines for the rest of the teachers on how to create a similar quilt. All of the teachers had an opportunity to explore the contents of the trunk and brainstorm ideas on how to incorporate the trunk into their curriculum during the 2008-2009 school year.
Ideas quickly flowed on how to use the quilt project for math, art, writing, science, reading and social studies as teachers brainstormed ideas. "Poetry, Back to School Night, and the Quilt Trunk! What a wonderful combination and perfect way to begin the school year. Several teachers plan to use the quilt to display "I Am" poems for Back to School Night. Other teachers saw excellent possibilities of using the quilts to help students understand patterns and tessellations in math, combining this study with art by teaching the students about the famous graphic artist M.C. Escher. Other ideas ranged from studying about fabrics and chemistry… fractions…studying different types of quilts that were made pioneer days in conjunction with novels such as Little House on the Prairie… community based projects. When the teachers realized that there were only two trunks available in the state, they collaborated together to sign up for a common time to share the trunk. We are grateful to Judy Kronmeyer for her help.
An article sent to Judy Kronmeyer from Mrs. Nancy Reeves of the Dwyer school:
Dwyer Fourth Graders Show the Contents of Their Traveling Quilt Trunk Project
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Taken from a letter sent to Judy Kronmeyer from Diane Dellureficio of the Millington School:
Dear Ms. Kronmeyer,
I am the school librarian at Millington School in Morris Co. We currently have been blessed with your wonderful quilt trunk and I couldn't wait to tell you how VERY excited and pleased all the children are. The Quiltmaker's Gift has long been one of our favorite stories and we are overwhelmed by the quilt that matches the story. I have it on display over an A-frame board and the children are enthralled by the elements of the story within it. One of the children shared that she would "love to sleep under the quilt" and we all agreed. Your wonderful project has lead to many discussions about blankies and grandmothers and beloved objects. We now appreciate all the sewing that goes into the formation of a quilt. It was a gentle and cozy entrance into the new year.
I have tried to phone Dorothy Gruber who is the creator of the Quiltmaker's quilt without success. Perhaps the phone number on the identification tag is incorrect? I would love to personally thank her for making the story "come alive" for us. What a wonderful learning experience your project has given us. I dropped all the lessons I had planned and "seized the teachable moment" for the quilt trunk. Thank you so very very much!!!!! We are hoping to reserve the trunk again next year!
With sincere appreciation,
Diane Dellureficio and the students of Millington School (grades 2-5)
Taken from a letter sent to Merry May from Mary Byatt of the Birches Elementary School:
Hello,
My name is Mary Byatt and my school had the pleasure of utilizing the Quilt Trunk for the past 2 weeks. The story blocks were awesome and provided a sound connection between the quilts and US history. The children were amazed at the artistic beauty and designs of the quilts.They enjoyed the literature selections and the manipulatives. We had a "Quilt Day" in the fifth grade social studies classes the last day we had the trunk - there were different stations set up around the room.
These included a magnetic quilt design area, a story corner, a sewing station (the children are making a "Reach for the Stars" quilt), a drawing and vocabulary station, and a felt block station. Our guidance counselor did a special lesson in one of the special education classes, teaching the children how to embroider their name on fabric. Our librarian read "The Keeping Quilt" to all five fifth grade classes. Our art teacher plans to sew a quilt with the students in the spring. The trunk ignited a lot of interest and excitement! We thank you and your group for creating such an inspirational teaching tool!We noticed that some of the books in the trunk had blank name plates in the front. We were wondering if we could make a donation for the purchase of a book (perhaps, Shota and the Star Quilt, Eight Hands Round-A Patchwork Alphabet, or Selina and the Bear Paw Quilt) in the name of Birches Elementary School. If this is acceptable, please let me know who we should make the check out to and where I should send it.
Again, thank you for sharing your passion of quilting with our students and teachers!
Sincerely,
Mary Byatt