On the morning of April 9, Class III students excitedly led their parents into the H. Dale Hemmerdinger Auditorium for a special presentation of their capstone projects—also known as The Nightingale-Bamford School South American Institute for Language and Culture. In preparation for the summit, students in Ms. Milbourne and Ms. Peck’s homeroom worked together in groups of four to five for just over a month to create a poster board containing well-researched information about their assigned South American country.

Born out of a previous project from years’ past, which centered the study of United Nations member countries, Class III’s new capstone project highlights specifically South American countries and allows students to develop a deeper understanding of geography, to increase cultural awareness and understanding, and to build cultural connections.

Reinvigorated for the Class of 2033, this year’s project—now a capstone initiative—was also a way to synthesize the skills that students have been learning all year: reading, non-fiction writing, English, Spanish, research, practicing group work strategies, and to “dive into the concept of life far away; that life may be different, but it also can be very much similar around the world,” Class III Homeroom Teacher Ms. Christina Milbourne explained.

“Traditionally, social studies is often thought of as a progression from the ‘here and now’ to the ‘long ago and far away’...Now, we’re learning about the ‘right now’ but far away; really understanding the differences in culture, economy; all of the parts of what life is and how to make an impact,” Ms. Milbourne said.

Once students were placed into their work groups, they were assigned a South American country to research. Together, students were tasked with vetting online resources, digesting their research, and reporting their findings to form an overview for their poster board. Each group created single paragraph outlines about their country’s culture, economy, history, government, and environment. Third graders also needed to find accompanying imagery to support their research.

The project was divided into three phases. In phase one, students worked together in teams of delegates to prepare for their research. They determined the needs of the project and strategized their approach. In phase two, students used trusted resources to learn what they needed to know about their country and create a presentation. In phase three, students (or “delegates”) presented their work at the summit and received feedback from peers, teachers, and their families.

Delegates were also asked to report to 92nd Street in business professional attire—a key component of the summit, to help them assume their role as official delegates. Students dressed in their parents’ oversized jackets, did their hair, and made sure to look their best.

“We wanted them to take this seriously and see themselves as scholars and researchers,” Class III Homeroom Teacher Ms. Katie Peck shared. “Whether they’re wearing a parents’ oversized blazer or one of their own, they [were] going to put the effort into picking out their outfit and feeling very serious. It was very adorable.”

Prior to the summit, students reviewed photos of United Nations delegates and engaged in discussions about what they were wearing and why they might wear that type of attire to conduct business. In these conversations, students learned how this formality creates an air of seriousness and commitment to one’s work.

“There is a lot of theory that progressive education should be experienced and, for children, part of that experience really is the immersive quality of becoming the person who does this type of work,” Ms. Milbourne explained. “In addition to professional dress, we also presented this as The Nightingale-Bamford Institute of South American Culture.”

With these layers of formality established and posters created, the project culminated in April when families were invited to the summit. There, students’ projects were displayed on tables throughout the auditorium. Standing next to their projects, students presented facts and findings about their country to their families and other guests. While this project allowed students to practice their public speaking and oral communications skills, this moment also provided an opportunity to deepen their Spanish speaking skills. As Spanish is the predominant language spoken in South America, delegates communicated their research in Spanish to their Class IV peers, who visited the summit with questions they asked in Spanish.

“I wanted to create an opportunity for dialogue to happen in Spanish between the presenters and the visitors. For this reason, I intentionally designed an exchange in the form of a question and answer format, to give the Class III students a way to share beyond the simple memorization of facts and beyond just a one way experience,” Lower School Spanish Program Coordinator

Ms. Annalise Porras said. “I wanted students who were presenting to really listen carefully to what was being asked and then respond appropriately, much more like a real life scenario. I also wanted to equip the visitors with a way to engage in Spanish and practice utilizing questions based on the country research.”

When Ms. Porras began to develop the Lower School Spanish Program, it was incredibly important to her that the program be integrated, to align with what students were already learning in other subjects.

“Familiar context provides such a rich opportunity for students to understand content being presented in a new language,” Ms. Porras said. “Additionally, each grade level year in LS Spanish is designed around a specific country or region of focus; in third grade, we explore various countries in South America. So, in alignment with the third grade study of the United Nations, I suggested the idea to focus our research solely on the Spanish speaking member states of the UN and thus, the capstone theme was born!”

Class III student Zoe E. shared that one of her favorite parts about the whole process was the summit, specifically because all attendees had the chance to enjoy a variety of Spanish foods, such as empanadas and plátanos.

Reflecting upon the capstone’s inaugural year, Ms. Milbourne hopes that students will take away a sense of pride from this experience and that they will have developed an identity as learners, researchers, and experts; “a sense of themselves as scholars who can do serious work.” Ms. Milbourne added that she was most proud of seeing the students display a new level of independence.

“They stepped into their identities as delegates,” she reflected.

Following the summit, students had the opportunity to visit the United Nations headquarters, located in Midtown Manhattan. Students split into groups to visit The General Assembly Hall—where a live meeting was taking place—as well as the Kids Corridor that exhibits an actual refugee tent, UN uniforms, flags, photographs, and more. Through conversations, games, and role play, students deepened their understanding of how the UN works and continued learning about the UN’s goals.

Reflecting on the capstone and summit, Class III student Elle P. ’33 shared, “We showed all of the other grades that we can do challenging things—like they can.”