Madison Reporter

First-grade students at Orchard Ridge Elementary and eighth graders from Toki Middle School have joined forces in a unique educational collaboration. This partnership, now in its third year, involves first graders designing imaginative projects with the help of their older peers from Lee Brigg’s design and fabrication class.

The initiative begins with first-grade students sketching their ideas and writing descriptive sentences about their envisioned "magnificent thing." With guidance from the eighth graders, they select materials and use tools to bring these concepts to life over three days. The classrooms of teachers Becky Christy and Megan Schumacher transform into creative workshops filled with yarn, cardboard, paper towel rolls, tape, pipe cleaners, and boundless imagination.

Projects range widely in scope—from guitars to dollhouses, jet packs to fairy gardens. Royce, a first grader, envisioned a tree trunk from a simple rectangular box with her partner's assistance. "Everyone benefits from the partnership," said Christy. She emphasized that this collaboration enhances project quality and fosters pride among students.

The program aligns with both grade levels' curricula by integrating emotional learning and literacy skills for the younger students while promoting engineering concepts for the older ones. Briggs explained that his eighth graders learn responsibility through tasks like safely using utility knives and hot glue guns while also developing interpersonal skills such as communication and conflict management.

Briggs noted the positive impact on his students: “Middle school kids want to feel like a grown-up... being helpful has a profound effect.” The collaboration also sparks interest in technical education among first graders; one expressed eagerness to join Briggs’ class in future years.

Christy highlighted the community-building aspect of the project: “We are creating a culture of belonging.”