In the space of six weeks, Amanda Vasquez, a seventh grader at Bronx Community Charter School (BCCS) learned that pigeons are vital to Norwood’s ecosystem, especially near Tracey Towers. Inban Devadoss and Grace Ildefonso, second grade students at BCCS, familiarized themselves with A&A Grocery at East 204th Street, learning that the 24-hour deli’s marquee dish is its bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. Inban took what he learned a step further, proudly showing off replicas of the deli’s bacon, egg, and cheese meal and Goya cans on display using Model Magic Clay, visualizing his takeaways.

For BCCS, the study served as an anthropological exercise for the student body, gleaning its culture, history, and the social setting that makes up Norwood, a neighborhood that’s seen major changes in its last 25 years given the wave of foreign-born New Yorkers planting roots in a community once dominated by Irish and Jewish neighbors.

It’s also a project that comes full circle for BCCS, a K-8 school that opened its doors nine years ago in Fordham with the strong desire of relocating to a large building at 3170 Webster Ave. in Norwood. It did just that in 2012.

The subjects ranged across the K-8 school, and tailored to a child’s general learning ability. Kindergarten students, for instance, brainstormed their most enjoyable places to have fun in Norwood, with students Acellese Acosta and Evan Velilla crafting sketches and dioramas of swings at Oval Park. Acellese named her swing “The Ace” in honor of her name. Eighth graders delved into gentrification, a timely subject given the worries over it across the Bronx.

The study—illustrated through dioramas and artworks that was later presented at a pop-up, hands-on museum exhibition at BCCS on Oct. 25 dubbed “A Celebration of Norwood”—is part of a yearlong look into one topic each grade will embrace. Sasha Wilson, BCCS’ co-principal, said studying Norwood was long overdue, giving students the chance to familiarize locales they’ve passed dozens of times, which included the neighboring Family Dollar store.

“It pushes them towards inter-activity. Anyone can do the classic, science-fair thing where you put up poster boards that explains something, and you say, ‘That’s nice.’ We pretend to appreciate it, it’s not that engaging,” said Wilson. “[W]hat’s exciting about the museum is…this—you walk into that Family Dollar classroom and you’re given a cart and then you go towards the stock room, and then you can pick things off the shelf … There’s an element of being immersed in it.”

Among them was the subject of activism, which the fifth grade class took on. It also saw a visit by Norwood elected officials.

“[Councilman] Andrew Cohen came in and [Assemblywoman] Nathalia Fernandez, which was great. And they had real conversations and how do you deal with them,” said Wilson, mentioning the subjects within that topic ranged from handling community problems while pointing to the individual roles citizens can take.

Blessing Owusu, an eighth grader, sought a clever way of explaining the subject of redlining and gentrification through an original story presented in comic book format. Blessing’s piece told the generational story of grandmother and her granddaughter, Loraline, two Bronx residents dealing with redlining and gentrification respectively.

“To me, it’s two-sided,” said Blessing, 13, of gentrification. “It’s both good and bad. They fix the community because the Bronx needs fixing up. It’s easy to make improvements, pretty much. On the other hand, I don’t like how when only the richer benefit here. I feel like they should give power to the lower people too.”

Part of the lesson involved learning about Robert Moses, the master city urban planner who transformed the Bronx in the 1960s with the creation of the Cross Bronx Expressway. For Blessing, Moses—who’s buried at Woodlawn Cemetery touching Norwood—his Bronx-based projects were “both good and bad.”

Having absorbed the subject, Blessing now draws links between prices and gentrification, pointing to a corner store bodega in Norwood that’s selling chips at $1.50 when they once cost .50 cents. “They’re building new stores and everything’s costing more and more,” said Blessing.

Wilson beamed with pride over the subject and the students’ willingness to learn about gentrification. “Those are thorny, complex issues that there are no good answers to,” said Wilson, adding that the subject was simplified even further for the lower grades through popsicle stick puppets. “It allows them an access point; it allows them to engage on what this issue is.”

Some of the grades plan to spend the rest of the year poring over the topics, while others will find new ones. Amanda, who is in the seventh grade, will stick to the ecology of pigeons and its interaction with Norwood, a neighborhood she feels has something for everyone.

“Norwood is a place where everyone could connect in their own way,” said Amanda, who wants to be a teacher at BCCS when she grows up. “If you’re looking for a place to connect with people and eat foods, and visit things, you can come here.”

Connection is vital toward community-building, said Sasha, who looks to revisit the topic over the next semesters. “[Connectivity] is a big thing.  After experiencing this study, we hope that the next time our students are in the Family Dollar Store, they look at the employees as real people doing important work, and can connect with them on that level.”