Fall 2012 Issue - Archmere Academy

The Patio: An Educational ToolStudents Learn In, About and Through “The Patio”This spring, sophomore chemistry students werechallenged to look at a familiar building on campus ina new way, when Dr. Marta Guron assigned her HonorsChemistry students “The Patio Project.” A creative spinon the group research paper, the project asked studentsto examine the once home of John J. Raskob, throughthe eyes of a chemist. The students spent the semesterlooking for science in the construction, maintenance,design and systems of the building. What they found wasan interdisciplinary learning experience that forced themto think about how history, art, engineering, and chemistryeach played a role in the formation of the historicalbuilding in which their school began.Each student group chose an element of the buildingto focus on – from the marble fountain in the center ofthe courtyard, to the mechanics used to heat and coolthe 45+ room house, to the third-floor infirmary used toquarantine the Raskob children during illnesses.“The Patio Project” had students digging through thearchives, looking through digital records and taking tripsto the Hagley Museum in Greenville, where much of theRaskob family’s artifacts and records can be found.“It was interesting to go to the Hagley Museum and lookthrough the personal records of Mr. Raskob and see thehistory and the conversations that led to building ThePatio,”says Shing-Shing Cao ’14 and Rebecca Peet ’14. “Wedidn’t realize that we had access to all of this research untilwe started looking – it was really neat.”“(This project) gave us achance to look back at theroots of our school andlearn along the way”“(This project) gave us a chance to look back at the rootsof our school, and learn along the way,” added ConorFurey ’14, whose group studied the stained glass ceiling inThe Patio, designed by Henry Keck, a student of Tiffany.CAPTION10