Jasper Elementary School students pushing for persimmon to become State Fruit

Jasper Elementary School 4th graders have been working on a project with State Representative Shane Lindauer and State Senator Daryl Schmitt to have the persimmon designated as the state fruit.

“As educators, our goal is to instill a sense of wonder in our students. Last year, while teaching Indiana history, my students learned about a second-grade class in West Lafayette that proposed and eventually passed a bill for the Say’s Firefly to become the state insect,” Jasper Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Mrs. Donato said. “One student in my class asked whether Indiana had a state fruit. This question sparked curiosity, and the entire class began researching.”

According to Mrs. Donato, they initially proposed the pawpaw, as it is native to Indiana. “However, they later found out that Ohio designated the pawpaw as their state fruit in 2009,” she said.

With a goal in mind of proposing the persimmon as the state fruit for Indiana, students got to work. Persuasive writing is a standard skill for fourth graders, so this project was an excellent opportunity to teach those skills. Students had to find three or more reasons why the persimmon should be the state fruit, so they researched various aspects of the persimmon to determine the top four reasons. Those were that Indiana currently lacks a state fruit, persimmons are native to Indiana, the health benefits, and the potential for the fruit and its wood to boost the state’s economy.

On Friday, January 24, 2025, five students (Grant, Mackenzie, Sophie, Ariel, and Sawyer) volunteered to create and present a slideshow. JES Principal Kent Taylor, Assistant Principal Ryan Erny, GJCS Superintendent Dr. Tracy Lorey, Rep. Lindauer, Sen, Schmitt and all the fourth-grade classes attended the presentation.

What are the next steps? Representative Lindauer introduced House Bill 1618 to the committee, which aims to designate the persimmon as the state fruit. The students will present their arguments orally to the committee on February 10th at the Indiana Statehouse.

Regardless of the outcome, this project-based learning experience in civics will be something the students will never forget.

Students learned how to write a persuasive essay, expanded their knowledge of persimmons, gained skills for making oral presentations, and understood the state-level process of how a bill becomes a law. They also learned how to work collaboratively and discovered that while they are young, they can still make a different through perseverance and hard work.

As a Leader in Me School, Jasper Elementary students and teachers are always incorporating the programs habits into their learning. The children involved in this project utilized the habits of “beginning with the end in mind” and “synergizing” in the project, according to Mrs. Donato.

“It was wonderful to witness their engagement and excitement during their research and writing. Many students even asked if they could come in before school or skip recess to work on their writing tasks,” she said.

“Each class either worked together to write an essay or allowed individual students to create their own essays,” she added. “Additionally, students who wished to contribute artistically designed drawings of persimmons to serve as covers for their writings or displays. We are fortunate to have such incredibly talented students!”

The project is still unfolding, so stay tuned for exciting updates.