A culminating experience for the fourth graders, who study California history all year long, is Gold Rush Day. The teachers and staff build a gold rush town at school (“Tiger Eye Canyon”) and the students spend most of the day as miners, panning and searching for gold, heading to the assay office and the bank to turn it in, buying provisions at the stores, hanging out in the saloon, and more. It’s really quite a production, with most kids and adults in costume and a miner’s lunch of chili, ribs, bread and desserts provided by the parents.
I volunteered to help and was asked to take pictures — a perfect fit for me. The day started with a speech from the Sheriff, who laid out some rules while the fidgety kids tried to spy the gold nuggets in the adjacent “field.”
Soon enough they were off and running, finding lots of gold in them thar hills.
There were also a couple of spots to pan for gold. However, after an hour or so, most kids figured out that the gold nuggets weighed a lot more and therefore were worth a lot more in exchange, and the panning became less popular.
Once they had some gold, they went to the assay’s office where it was weighed and they were given a certificate to take to the bank.
Each student was scheduled for a shift at one of the stations — assay’s office, bank, saloon, photo booth, schoolhouse, etc. Here are Ezra and Henry, who took at early shift at the bank.
The saloon was a popular destination, with two blackjack tables and a bar selling root beer shots.
There was old timey music, too.
Here are a few more pictures of Ezra from throughout the day.
Here he is at the newspaper office. I’m not sure what he was writing or how he could see but I thought it was super cute.
And here he is after a search for nuggets in the gold field.
Since I was one of the designated photographers, I have a ton of photos here. It really was a great day!