CULLMAN, Ala. — What better way to learn about Henry Ford’s assembly line than by putting those skills to good use getting things ready for Halloween at West Elementary School?
Sixth grade students at West Elementary School in Cullman turned their lesson about Big Business during the Gilded Age, and the founding of the Ford automobile company, into a fun experience to see the concept in action just in time for trick-or-treating.
“I wanted my students to experience working in an assembly line to have a better understanding of this revolutionary process in mass production,” West Elementary School sixth grade teacher Sharyn Hollingsworth said. “The West Elementary PTA is amazing and always provides treats for our students at Halloween. Two years ago, I went to PTA President, Jessica Svarney, and offered free labor to assemble the treat bags for them and she welcomed the assistance in this gigantic effort. Generous parents provide the candy, PTA provides the treat bags, and sixth graders provide the labor.”
So for one day in October, Hollingsworth turns her classroom into a makeshift candy assembly line nicknamed the Sixth Grade Treat Factory. Students are randomly assigned jobs, from Product Initiator, Product Line Candy Filler, Conveyor Belt Product Carrier, Quality Control, Packaging, etc., and job descriptions are given before the assembly line begins. Student Supervisors also help keep the production line moving smoothly. Each class is tasked with a goal of producing 100 treat bags.
Hollingsworth said students had a lot of fun preparing for Halloween, and even learned some efficiency from the process and recommended their own changes to keep things running smoothly.
“Following each shift, students are asked to reflect on their experience and give feedback on how the assembly line might be more productive and/or efficient. This year the students suggested using better quality bags and moving more man-power to the finishing department,” she explained. “Conversations following our simulation activity were priceless; students had a much better understanding of how an assembly line works and its advantages when mass producing an item. Students also felt a sense of pride in surpassing their goal and producing 600+ treat bags to help out our WES PTA.”
Thanks to the hard work of the WES sixth graders, every student at West Elementary will receive a Halloween treat.
