I would have to say that the highlight of my week at NCCAT was our trip to Judaculla Rock. The rock itself is an amazing mystery as to why it was carved by the Cherokee. I intrigued getting to see the rock carvings and making hypotheses with my colleagues.  I also loved seeing where the Cherokee used soapstone to carve out their cooking bowls.  I was  impressed by their perseverance to slowly grind away the rock by hand to shape their bowls.   The forming of the bowls spoke to me as an educator. It reminded me that even if we have the most difficult children to reach, we must work to shape and mold them. We as educators must persevere  through our student’s rough exteriors and form a whole well balanced child.

The next part of our trip was definitely a teachable moment.  While the Kenan Fellows were admiring the Judaculla Rock, Mr. Parker walked up to us and started telling us about the rock. He happened to own the land the rock was on and his grandfather was the man that found the rock on their property.  He had very cool stories to share with us, and he even showed us a beautiful overlook of the valley, and showed us where an old Mica Mine and Silver Mine was up in the mountains.  Then Mr. Parker showed us some drums that were handmade  by a shaman, that depicted the Judaculla Rock and Cherokee .  The group of us enjoyed getting to learn a short Social Studies and Science Lesson from Mr. Parker.  We even played the drums and did our own dancing.  It was a truly awesome experience that 16 of us enjoyed, and I hope that I can get my students as excited about learning as we were that night.