Adriane Houlguin - Special to the Sun

Just in time for Whiskey Flat Days, we’ve got real life examples of what people might have made in the 1800’s on display at the Lake Isabella Library. Kern River Valley Oaks’ Teacher, Jodi Stauffer, gathered up projects that her students made, either in enrichment class, history camp, or independently. 'I’m glad for the opportunity to show off my student’s skills, talents, and efforts. They work hard on their special projects and it’s nice that we have this chance to show them to the whole community,' says Stauffer.

Students of the Kern River Valley Oaks Charter School study their core subjects at home with their parents as teachers. However, thanks to the generosity of the Nuui Cunni Center, last year students were able to begin attending enrichment classes taught by Stauffer. 'I taught a Native American arts and crafts class in the fall last year. It was well attended and students did a great job learning some difficult skills, especially pine-needle basket weaving,' she said. Stauffer designed a special project for the older students. It combined sand-painting with basket weaving. It’s a sand-painted plaque framed with pine-needles. The younger students made a simple dream catcher, coil pots, and sand painted necklaces in which they used a pump drill to add shells. There have been many other enrichment classes since then but Stauffer chose these projects to display in the case at the library this month.

Students from the local Valley Oaks Charter School show off their old time sand painted plaques.

Also on display are projects that students made during History Camp. Twice a year all Valley Oaks Charter School students have the opportunity to attend History Camp on the grounds of the Kern County Museum. The first three days are spent going from station to station and learning how to do four different skills per day. On the fourth day the students choose their favorite station and work as docents while schools from all over Kern County tour the museum grounds. Valley Oaks Students get to help visitors learn new 'old-fashioned' skills. Come check out the display to see what some of these skills are.

Throughout the year students also do projects on their own. 'Last year I had an ambitious fourth grader, Jacob Potts, who made a model of a mission and of a Gabriellino Village,' claims Stauffer. The mission was too big for the display case so only the village is on display now. Students do grade-level projects, and independent projects that their resource teacher gets to display at a year-end open house called Extravaganza. 'It’s amazing how varied the projects can be! Students make models of things, create slide shows that can be displayed on lap-tops or Television Sets, write reports, make movies and much, much, more,' says Stauffer. ' I thought Jacob’s village would be appropriate since this month is all about Whiskey Flat Day’s here in the valley.'

Last year Stauffer’s students participated in Whiskey Flat Days by dressing up in period costumes and competing in the costume contest. Many of her students also competed in the pet parade. 'We had fun last year,' she said, 'but this year we thought we’d participate by helping the community get in the mood for the event by putting arts, crafts, and models of the 1800’s on display at the library.'