Powerful learning happens when students are given the opportunity to connect ideas across subjects and bring them to life with their own hands.
In the Design program, our goal is to develop projects that encourage students to think about and work within a concept from multiple angles. For example, a project that engages with a class novel, historical period, artistic movement, or cultural festivity that the class is studying deepens their appreciation of that idea.
The Grade 6 Ancient Coin Project is an example of how students not only learn about history but immerse themselves in it.
While studying ancient Greece and Rome in Social Studies, students explored these civilizations through a new perspective in Design by examining and recreating the artistry and symbolism of ancient coins dating back 2000 years. Ancient Greek and Roman coins served as powerful symbols of identity, leadership, and culture, offering a meaningful and tangible connection to the history students were exploring.
After researching historical imagery, students selected two designs to represent the heads and tails of their own coin. They sketched their designs, enlarged them to five inches in diameter, and traced the details onto acetate to prepare for laser cutting.
These outlines were reduced in size, cut into thin plywood, and used as stamps to press into Sculpey copper-colored clay. Students reviewed their oven-baked Sculpey prototypes, then created final versions using copper clay—tiny particles of pure copper held together with a binder to give it a sculptable consistency.
Once completely dried, the coins were torch-fired for 15 minutes, sintering together all the metal and burning off the binder.
The resulting coins are pure copper – strong, lustrous, and satisfyingly heavy. As our sixth graders prepare to graduate, we hope these coins serve as a lasting reminder of their time spent at Gillispie and a reminder to carry their creativity and confidence into the future.