Did you know the oldest mittens known come from the country of Latvia? Or that the American Museum of Natural History has a pair of blue- and- white mittens from 1803 with a poem knitted into them?
Students in the town of Guilderland in the Capital Region are making mitten history today as they bring in warm, colorful hand coverings to share with others in need. Two educators set up a fake green fir as a Mitten Tree, and students soon began loading the branches with gloves, hats … and mittens.
Mary Schmidt, teaching assistant, and Carrie Jones, special education teacher, volunteered to help resurrect the grades 3-5 student council and carry out projects like this. They wanted “to bring back activities to bring the school together,” said Jones.