The Beginning
Carverville was established in 2014. Something that year sparked a memory of mine from back in the 70's when I was a little girl going to elementary school in Sparta, Mo. I remember participating in something called Spartaville. My only real memory was a visit from the local florist, Susie Johns, as she showed me and my classmates how to make paper flowers that had green, floral tape for a stem. For some reason, I never forgot that tape. My classmates and I would "sell" those paper flowers during Spartaville. Unfortunately, for my husband Robert, that visit from Susie didn't transform into my desire to plant flowers in my adulthood, but it did leave a lasting impression on me. An impression so meaningful, it would help me in creating a special tradition at Carver Elementary years down the road. I kept a pink flower from that day in my jewelry box until just a few years ago when I realized it was missing. I had held onto it for 30 years at least. Robert would tell you I would blame him for losing it, but I might have to take the blame for that one. Back to Carverville. The vision was to transform our third and fourth grade classrooms into businesses. A city, if you will. All of our kids would go from shop to shop choosing what they wanted to buy. We would have a bakery, flower shop, photography studio, bookstore, etc. I had hopes it would grow into something big and it absolutely has. It's become one of the best things we do all year.
Community Involvement/PTO
There are many behind the scenes activities that take place in order to prepare for Carverville. Just like the local florist coming to speak to my class all those years ago, I knew I wanted to invite community members into the school to talk about what their businesses entailed. Lauri Lyerla, Neosho Chamber Director, and Ashley Siler, events coordinator, come each year to have a ribbon cutting for our Carverville shops. Oh how the kids love those huge scissors. Garry Fausett, from Fausett Greenhouse comes to speak to Mrs. Williams' class about working in a greenhouse and Adrianna Henry, from Family Market, speaks to Mrs. Buckner's boys and girls about what it takes to work in a bakery. We now have 10 businesses: The Book Boutique, 29 Photography, Carverville Perk, Buckners's Bakery, Carverville Bank and Trust, Santa's Gift Wrapping Shop, Elf Market, Carverville Floral Shoppe, The ZEAL Emporium, and ZEAL Time Theater. Each business creates a commercial on Animoto to showcase the products they will be selling, their prices and store hours. I wonder how we advertised back in the 70's. I'm thinking a piece of poster board from Sparta Dry Goods. All students visit Carverville Bank and Trust the day before Carverville to get their money. Did I say money? Well, it's a paper "debit card" with 20 dollars to spend.. They are all given a sucker as they leave, just like real life, right? The 550 students are allowed to use "paper" money because our amazing PTO funds all of Carverville. That's right. They buy the flowers from Fausett Greenhouses, the homemade cookies from Family Market, the ornaments in the ornament shop, the items in the ZEAL Emporium, etc. They make this experience happen for our kids and we are so grateful.
A new addition
I don't forget much. In fact, Glynda Condict always teased me that my mind was like a steal trap. I had another memory from 25 years ago pop up recently. A post office. Yes. A post office. In the early years of my teaching career at Logan-Rogersville, teachers at one of the elementaries had mailboxes outside their classrooms and the kids wrote letters that were delivered throughout the day. With Carverville being a city, I decided we needed a post office. After hearing my idea, one of our Carver artists, Connie Studdard, got to work on a mailbox that looks just like one at any post office around the country. The teachers all put mailboxes outside their classrooms and each of our hallways now have street names which are, of course, named after our Houses. We have Zaplon Court, Empyreal Drive, Ajani Avenue, and Lumiere Lane. Every room also has an address, so kids not only write letters but are expected to address envelopes correctly as well. Everyone is writing, writing, writing. It's exciting to see the kids as they drop their letters in the mailbox. I love passing them in the hallway and hearing, "Mrs. Burr, I wrote you a letter" or "Mrs. Burr, did you get my letter". Brothers are writing letters to sisters, students are writing letters to former teachers, and the list goes on and on.
Reflection
Carverville is an experience we are creating for our kids they will never forget. For some, it might be the only time they can buy a flower for their mom, or an ornament for their sibling, or take a brand new book home for themselves. As I walked around and watched the students shopping, I just enjoyed listening to the conversations between the kids. Many were discussing what they were planning on buying, while others were showing what they had in their bags.They had to spend their money wisely and really think about what they wanted to buy. I challenge everyone to create those experiences for kids. My daughter, Allison, and her friends in high school that I see on a regualar basis, have begun asking me why we didn't do these "cool" things when they were at Carver and I have no good answer. Why didn't we? I challenge you to think outside the box, or in my case, think back to your own wonderful memories, and put a new twist on them. I have started putting #creatingexperiences on my twitter pictures when I post on Twitter because we are doing just that...creating experiences. See...we had a little bit of Ron Clark and Hope King in us before we even knew their names. It's so important to create those experiences for kids and for us as educators as well. I know the kids will be talking about Carverville for years. One day, they'll smile thinking about the day they wore their house shirts and shopped with their Lumiere friends and bought cookies in Buckner's Bakery. Maybe some will remember the ZEAL Emporium where they bought Empyreal everything: blue balloons, blue bracelets, blue pom poms, and blue cups. Perhaps their favorite memory will be going to the Carverville Perk for some hot chocolate and sitting at the pub tables discussing their purchases or where they wanted to shop next. As Carverville came to an end, and I walked past Zaplon Court into Ajani Avenue admiring the awnings above the paper doors the teachers had decorated, and I watched the students smiling as they carried poinsettias in their arms that would be given to their mothers, as soon as they got in the car or off the bus, I smiled at the thought of where it all began; in a classroom in Sparta, Missouri, with a pink paper flower, green floral tape and a memory that never left a little nine-year-old girl. A Christmas song played over the sound system in our cafeteria as another Carverville ended, but the only song I could hear was the one I was humming to myself; City Sidewalks, Busy Sidewalks, Dressed in Holiday Style.
