by Kerstin Pintus | WSP Handwork Teacher
On September 10th, WSP students and I, their handwork teacher, participated in a Living History event “A Walk Through Time” at the Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum.
Representing the “golden days” of the rancho period, 1833 through 1846 in California, WSP’s booth “Fun with Wool” was a great success. Under the enthusiastic and patient tutelage of WSP students in period costumes and myself, visitors learned through hands-on activities how a sheep fleece is processed into yarn. Guests had an opportunity to card wool, build spindles from rocks and sticks, and spin yarn.
Sunnyvale’s Vice Mayor, Alysa Cisneros, joined the fun with demonstrations using a spinning wheel.
Many thanks to Juli, Sahar, and Anne-Mare in sixth grade; Mascha in eighth grade, and Maia twelfth grade for their wonderful ambassadorship and representation of our school.
Note: Two WSP alumni parents, Katharina Woodman and Kim Thurgate are volunteers at the museum where Kim serves as event coordinator who planned this festival. When Kim was looking for an activity that would tell the story of the sheep pastures and wool processing, Katharina suggested Kerstin and her students, having witnessed them practicing wool processing in handwork class.
