Article courtesy of Ms. Snow:
Mr. Ames, Rutherford’s very own Teachers’ Aid, taught Mrs. Snow’s third-grade class a valuable lesson! Mr. Ames taught the students that taking the easy way out is not always for the best! Mr. Ames read the book, Creepy Crayon, by Aaron Reynolds. Jasper Rabbit, the main character, is struggling in school and failing every subject except art. While walking home from school, Jasper finds a purple crayon that is “Purple. Pointy. And Perfect.” At first, the crayon seems like the perfect solution to all his school problems, as the Purple Crayon does all his schoolwork, and he aces every quiz, and all his projects are done for him. But then, Jasper begins to get creeped out by the crayon! Jasper begins to feel guilty for being rewarded for achievements that are not his own, so he decides to get rid of the crayon and work hard to earn his grades!
Not only did Mr. Ames teach the children the value of working hard, but he also taught them the history of the crayon and how crayons are made! Crayola all began in Peekskill, New York when Mr. Joseph W. Binney founded the Peekskill Chemical Company 1800’s. When his son, Edwin Binney, and his nephew, C. Harold Smith, took over the company in 1885, they tried to expand the company. Alice Binney, Edwin’s wife, was a schoolteacher, and suggested they make inexpensive crayons as the colored pencils they used in school were expensive. Her husband used paraffin wax to create the first crayons! Alice created the name Crayola by combining two French words, Craie, which means chalk, and Ola, which means oily. The Crayola Company was created in 1903! Crayola now produces 12 million crayons a day and approximately 3 billion crayons annually!
The students then wrote about how they would get rid of their own “Creepy Crayon!” We cannot thank Mr. Ames enough for teaching the students about the history of the crayon and imparting the important lesson of working hard to earn your achievements and not taking the easy way out.