Skip to main content

Partners with the N-Y Historical Society - History Made Real through Art and Artifacts




As they examine a tool from another era, second grade boys puzzle out its purpose.
When they construct model longhouses and wigwams, boys imagine what life inside would be like, and how the real life Lenape inhabitants would move from one to the other, when winter turned to spring.
Inspired by their recent study of the Hudson River School of painting, third graders create watercolors depicting the Westward Expansion. They will later imagine themselves as pioneers and write letters "home" to their families in the east.


Our second and third grade boys engage in these learning experiences through our school's partnership with the New-York Historical Society, now in its eighth year.  In sessions that span over several weeks, art educators from N-YHS  teach in conjunction with the boys' Saint David's teachers. Topics of study spring to life through discussion, interaction with historical society experts, the study of artifacts, and the making of art.


Providing our boys with meaningful access to experts in the history, art, music and science fields is a curricular priority at Saint David's. Boys learn with both their exceptional Saint David's teachers as well as educators at premier institutions.

For more information about Saint David's School, visit www.saintdavids.org
To see the full archive of past blog posts, please go to: pdavidohalloran.blogspot.com


Popular posts from this blog

The Wisdom Within - A Matter of Trust

The Teaching Boys Initiative (TBI) is a cornerstone of Saint David’s School’s strategic vision, aimed at developing a robust framework of evidence-based best practices in boys’ education. The initiative’s primary goal is to empower educators with the knowledge, skills, habits, and dispositions of reflective practitioners, enhancing their professional growth and the overall quality of teaching and learning for boys.  In TBI's new quarterly blog series, "The Wisdom Within," our faculty share stories that inform, inspire, and encourage reflective practice using evidence-based approaches in teaching and learning for boys.  The following inaugural entry, "A Matter of Trust," was written by reflective practitioner and Master Teacher Tom Ryan, who has been inspiring generations of Saint David's boys for more than 53 years. A MATTER OF TRUST …but, I digress. I cannot possibly begin any writing piece, and/or class, without some digression that, as I have said to my s...
Read more

"The Wisdom Within" - Bringing Sound to Space

In the second entry of our Teaching Boys Initiative's quarterly blog series, "The Wisdom Within," Saint David's reflective practitioner and Master Teacher Cathy O'Neill explores the pedagogical power of play in the education of young boys. BRINGING SOUND TO SPACE It began with a mound of mangled metal and the vapor of a vision gleaned from recent comments and random fact-dropping by the Pre-K boys. Unsure of what exactly I was looking for, but fueled by the idea of a makeshift rocket to dovetail with our upcoming space unit, I gingerly picked through the scrap pile until my hands grazed an old VW control panel devoid of its dashboard. Eureka! An array of knobs, dials, and buttons - while in reality, dead as doornails - in the right small hands, would become the epicenter of our NASA-inspired dramatic play corner. With a couple of lawn chairs and some old CB radio microphones to round out the set, engines would be ignited by the power of imagination. All systems go...
Read more

Jack Mullin '12 : Reflections on a Mom's Love

The Chapel talk tradition at Saint David's provides faculty and alumni with the opportunity to share with our boys meaningful and inspiring personal stories: their experiences, lessons learned, challenges overcome. The annual Fifth Grade Mother-Son Chapel gathers our fifth-grade boys and their mothers or mother figures for a special shared pre-Mother's Day experience; a Chapel Talk by a young alumnus who reflects upon the role his mother has played in his life. This year, we welcomed former Student Council President Jack Mullin '12. Jack's family has deep roots with school. His older brother Patrick graduated in '08 and his dad, Terry, in 1973. Jack's talk centered on the impact both his alma mater and his mother, Immy, have had on his development into the man he is today. Below are excerpts that I would like to share: "My family's multi-generational lineage is a testament to the incredible sense of community Saint David’s fosters, and I too hope I have...
Read more