Party School- Underground Railroad

14 years ago.....yep 14, I was hired on a local public school with an amazing group of educators. We were one of a kind and we loved each other fearlessly. We worked hard together every day making sure every single child showed individual progress. We enjoyed planning fun and unique expiernces like non other that I had expierenced at any other school I had been a part of. During the Spring of that year our fearless team leader, Katie proposed an idea to take the kids on an interactive simulation through the Underground Railroad.......

I've never forgotten that day.....and 14 years later, I heard Julie Bogart from Brave Writer introduce the idea of PARTY SCHOOL!!  As she was speaking about how she taught her kids about the Gold Rush through a party, I immediately started thinking about doing the same thing with my teams Underground RailRoad Simulation from 14 years ago!!!

So, I pitched the idea to my home school gals at church and we had 100 children show up  dressed as slaves to be taken to freedom in Canada  on the Underground Railroad!

As the children checked in for the event, the slaves masters assigned them to a color group and a chore at the ole plantation!

These kids were stacking fire wood.......

Washing the clothes......

Washing Babies......

Hanging the laundry......

As they were hard at work, Harriet Tubman would come and grab a group of kids at a time, as they would start their trek into the night to escape for Freedom.... She told them to "Follow the Drinking Gourd" 

As the slaves were searching for a safe house, they had to be very careful as slave catchers were lurking at every corner! 

Each Safe House was marked with a lantern or a quilt so that the slaves could easily identify who would would give them a brief respite from their long journey! 

Inside each safe house was a sweet "lady of the house"  who offered a story, a song, a prayer, or some food and water! 

After the Slaves traveled far, they found the Ohio River......

Finally, they found freedom in Canada!

(Where there was a pizza party!) 

This was a super fun day of learning! All the children were given a study packet about the Underground Railroad about a month in advance of this event. Each parent was responsible for teaching the content of that packet in whatever way worked best for their families.  Enjoy a few more pictures of this incredible learning day!