RISON - As readers of all ages celebrate the 100th anniversary of Margery Williams' children's book, 'The Velveteen Rabbit (Or How Toys Become Real),' and as we near 200 years since Charles Dickens wrote the novella, 'A Christmas Carol,' Rison Elementary School has received a $3,000 grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the Nation Endowment for the Humanities for a special project: Classic Literature and History of Toys.
Cheryl Patrick, Gifted/ Talented Coordinator for Rison Elementary, designed the project to engage students in detailed studies of selected classics, research and meaningful activities. Students will recognize that toys through the years in large reflected the human conditions at the time they were developed - that as times change, toys change. Emphasis will be placed on wartime toys. Retired Sergeant Major Jimmy Cummings is serving as humanities scholar in this project.
Principal Letitia Walker is excited to announce that culminating this special project, Bright Star Touring Theatre will present for K-3 students a stage production of 'The Velveteen Rabbit,' the sentimental story about what it means to love and what it means to be real. For students in grades 4-6, the theatre will present 'A Dickens Tale,' its take on the classic 'A Christmas Carol.'