Posted 10:50 AM October 26, 2006

Indian face painting's a hit with Forest Hill 4th-graders

By Chris Sikich
October 26, 2006

NOBLESVILLE — Fourth-graders at Forest Hill Elementary celebrated Native American Day Wednesday after finishing their study of American Indians.

The students dressed up, made crafts, painted faces, played games, wrote essays and watched an educational video. They concluded the festivities in the afternoon with dancing, while using rattles they made in art class for music.

Teacher Kittie Brown said the students have been studying American Indian tribes with Indiana ties as part of their Indiana history lessons, including the Shawnee and Miami. The kids also went to Conner Prairie earlier in the year to learn about the Delaware tribe that settled along White River.

While Native American Day itself is more generic than focused on specific tribes, Brown said the point is to let the kids have a good time while putting everything together. It's been part of the curriculum for nearly all of the 20 years she's been a teacher at Forest Hill.

"It lets them have fun with all of the facts they have been learning," Brown said.

The students broke into five groups to go through different stations throughout the day. Halfway through the afternoon, Sam Riester said he was enjoying himself. Teacher Barb Williams had just painted his face.

"So far, I like the games that we played, and I like the face painting," he said.

Will Plumer said he's been looking forward to Native American Day for years after seeing other kids do it, because "We get to dress up."