Day 86: Denise Estep, 3rd Grade Teacher at Hilliard Horizon Elementary

Connecting the Community to the Classroom

3rd graders at Hilliard Horizon participated in a Community Fair on Friday, October 11th. Our goal was to reach out to our community members and ask them to come into our classrooms to show the kids what impact they have on our local Hilliard/Columbus community.  

Although we didn't have quite the turn-out we had originally thought, it was an extremely powerful event for all involved. We had a local nurse, 

a local firefighter (who is stationed right on Feder Rd.), 

2 cancer researchers from the OSU James Cancer Hospital, 

a local Hilliard police officer, 

a Boy Scout troop leader from Horizon, 

and a post office worker from the Hilliard Post Office. 

This event was extremely hands-on with the kids being allowed to use a microscope to see how cancer cells are studied, holding & even trying on a bullet proof vest (and much more), touching a firefighters helmet, asking questions and having great dialogue among all community members. 

Now that we are unable to take field trips, it is so important to bring the "trips" to us. We are so very appreciative of all people who volunteered their time, our third graders learned so much about what makes a strong community and it includes all of our great volunteers.

Denis Estep is a 3rd Grade Teacher at Hilliard Horizon Elementary.