LIHU‘E — In the traditional fairy tale “Cinderella,” her carriage turns into a pumpkin at midnight. The pumpkin grown by Lisa Tamura’s kindergarten class at the Elsie Wilcox Elementary School resembles that enchanted pumpkin. It became an object of wonderment
LIHU‘E — In the traditional fairy tale “Cinderella,” her carriage turns into a pumpkin at midnight.
The pumpkin grown by Lisa Tamura’s kindergarten class at the Elsie Wilcox Elementary School resembles that enchanted pumpkin.
It became an object of wonderment as it was harvested Wednesday in preparation for delivery to the G.N. Wilcox Memorial Hospital where, according to Natalie Hiwahiwa Joyce-Maeda, the Wilcox School gardening coordinator, it will be the center of a display in the hospital’s lobby.
“It resembles the pumpkin in the ‘Cinderella’ story,” Hiwahiwa said. “When it turned orange, the students would stop me every day to ask questions about it.”
Hiwahiwa said she started the seed for the Fairytale Heirloom pumpkin at home in July, ahead of the start of school. She turned the seedling to the kindergarten class when school started.
“There have been other pumpkins, but they were all green and white,” Hiwahiwa said. “There are other pumpkins developing as well. This one was also green and white for a long time before it started turning orange.”
During the growth of the pumpkin seedling, Hiwahiwa said she worked with the students to learn about self pollination.
“The students watered and weeded around the plant and were amazed by how big the plants grew,” Hiwahiwa said.
The excited kindergarten students created artwork, both to embellish the letter, which accompanied the fruit, as well as supplemental artwork to add to the display.
“We used the pumpkin as part of an expanded curriculum on ‘malama,’” said Tamura, the class teacher. “We talked about how taking care of something can make it grow and how young children, with the care from parents, also grow.”
The notes are to make people happy and appreciative of everyone who cares, Tamura said, adding how the project ties in with Thanksgiving where we show appreciation and are thankful for everyone who cares for us.
“The students have also been working on a ‘kindness’ theme in their class and decided to donate their cherished pumpkin to Wilcox Hospital for Thanksgiving,” Hiwahiwa said in an email. “They have been tending to this special pumpkin since September.”
Hiwahiwa said there are nine kindergarten classes at Wilcox School and they all have pumpkin patches outside their classroom, but Tamura’s vine was the only one producing the orange Cinderella-like pumpkin.
“Now, all the other classes want pumpkin patches outside their classroom,” Hiwahiwa said.
She noted that in conjunction with The Salvation Army Community Thanksgiving Lunch, which took place at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall, Wilcox School, with its greenhouse and class gardens, contributed approximately 300 pounds of assorted fresh produce to the Salvation Army.
“This contribution comes from all grades, kindergarten through Grade 5, and includes a variety of produce including cherry tomatoes, green onions, green beans, assorted herbs and more,” she said.
