Story and photos by Gibson Walker ’30
I had the opportunity to go in a course called Best Babysitter here in the Middle School; this course was a part of our Winter Term. When I first walked into the babysitting class, the seventh and eighth-grade students were practicing songs they would theoretically sing to little kids. The teacher, Ms. Halverson, Middle School English Teacher, was guiding them through their songs. A few examples of the songs are Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle, and Old McDonald Had a Farm.
After they finished the songs, they moved to taste-testing baby foods. They had the option to taste it, touch it, or smell it. Ms. Halverson handed out the baby foods one at a time and allowed each student to use their senses to try and identify what was in the baby food. After they tasted them all, they had to guess what was in them, and if they were right, they got a point, and the person with the most points won. The flavors that they tasted were chicken apple, chicken noodle, spinach pea carrot, turkey rice, and strawberry banana apple.
Ms. Halverson said, “Many middle schoolers are starting to want jobs and make money, and I think babysitting is a great way for kids to do that. Family members have jobs, and they want one, too. It teaches them a way to make money and also teaches kids how to prepare food safely.” The students were taught a lot of different things about babysitting. Some of those things they were taught included mini-lessons such as things to do with kids of different ages, singing time (which is when they practiced the songs), interactive activities like making and playing with playdough, practicing read-aloud, and changing diapers.
While they were testing food, I asked some students a few questions to get a better understanding of what they thought of the class. I asked Noah Malik ’29 why he chose the class, and he said, “I wanted to be a better babysitter, and I want to learn different things about babysitting.” Brody Jones ’29 said, “I enjoy taste-testing food, and I enjoyed learning about babysitting things and learning CPR.” I enjoyed both of their responses to get a perspective on the class from someone experiencing it.
