In New York City, students at the Children’s Workshop School in Manhattan held their very own archaeological dig. These kids did it in their own classroom, inside the coat closet of their teacher. But these kids were able to open up the boards in the closet and dig up some fascinating finds from their 100-year old school.
It all started a few years ago when a Bobby Scotto, a former student of third grade teacher Miriam Sicherman, noticed a little crack in the closet floor. Scotto started poking around with his fingers and eventually started with pens and pencils. Soon, other students started to get curious and joined in on the “excavation”. After being able to pry open one of the boards, they found some pretty interesting things from the rich 100 year history of the school.
Since then, students have been digging up every closet in the school for the past two years. They have been able to find interesting and rare trinkets and things, some from a few decades back. Among the many things they have uncovered includes mummified animals and antique school supplies. The third grade teacher Miriam Sicherman has been very encouraging of these digs and pushes the students to be curious.
“I’m actually really glad this didn’t happen to me my first couple of years of teaching because that’s probably what I would have said,” Miriam said. “Because it’s a little scary as a teacher to encourage kids to do a project that you have no idea where it’s going.”