By Staff
Field trip has fourth graders in high cotton
Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
It was cotton pickin’ time for Jane Knight’s fourth graders at Danville-Neel Elementary School on Tuesday as they stood in single file and faced row after row of real cotton in a field adjacent to their school. For days they had read and studied about cotton as the king of row crops in a past era of Alabama history. Now they anxiously awaited the hands-on part of the lesson where they would use their four fingers on each hand to pluck the white locks of cotton from their bolls and stuff them into a pick sack.
With the word “go” they bolted into the cotton field and hurriedly began pulling locks of cotton from their bolls. They soon forgot the instructors of their teacher to pick from the outside of the field to the inside, one row at a time. They crossed over rows and soon were scattered afar chattering to each other and getting the feel of what their grandparents had experienced every day of their lives during cotton picking season.
The students stayed in the field for about 30 minutes and were allowed to keep all they picked. Each sack will be weighed and calculations made to determine how much each student would be able to pick in a full day of work.
She said other fourth grade classes will share in the experience and all of the students will have the opportunity to tour the old cotton gin in Danville and learn about its operation.”