"What happened?" one might ask. Well, this happened:
Before I detail today's events, let me track back to the their genesis. Several years ago, budgets were cut for education (an occurrence that would be be repeated, unfortunately, repeatedly over the last few years). Our districts' elementary students would not be allowed to go on their year-end field trip due to cost restraints. One kindergarten teacher, Sandy Rempel, contacted me, and we come up with the idea of making BHS a destination for our "littles". Our district is rather spread out, so establishing an a connection between our elementary students with our high school can be somewhat challenging. We want our kids to grow up dreaming of being "Crusaders". We promote that in sports with youth camps. We wanted, and still want, to find other opportunities to build our district identity. This was one of those opportunities. Our kindergarteners from UV traveled to Buhler and spent time with my English students, among others. We read together, told stories, and played. They spent time doing art activities in Mrs. Smith's room. It was a great experience. Over time, the school year was shortened to allow for bond construction, and the day was eliminated from the schedule.
Last summer, during a Twitterchat, I mentioned those days. Sandy Rempel replied that we needed to revive them, somehow. Cindy Couchman, our assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, was also taking part in the Twitterchat, and she supported the ideas. From that exchange, Sandy and I began planning a collaboration. Today, the first meeting of that collaboration took place. In short, the kinders came to visit, and my sophomore English students interviewed them. The goal was to get to know them, their interests, and their personalities. With that information, my students will write children's stories as part of our short story study. They will develop protagonists based on their "littles", and the plots will be built upon what they learned from their time with the kindergarten partners. After writing the stories, we will once again get together. The students will share their stories with their kinders, and the kinders will then illustrate the stories. Finally, we will print these books, and come together for a celebration at the end of the semester, with each student, both HS and K, receiving a copy of his or her book.
I am even more excited about the project now than I was before the visit. The interaction between high school sophomores and their five year-old buddies was incredible. Shy kids in my class connected with their partners and began to shine. In depth conversations about Frozen and favorite foods took place. I saw patience that amazed me, I heard laughter, and I felt a special kind of energy. A young man who spent three days last week in ISS spent our entire interview time sitting next to a shy little girl, asking about her and filling a page with notes. One of my kids who has not said more than two sentences out loud in class without being prompted read not one, but three different books to his new little friend. The young lady who told me she really didn't think she should work with a little one because has no patience took pictures nonstop throughout the period, capturing some incredible moments with an expert eye. I saw another young lady look at me with eyes that said, "What do I do?" as her partner danced in circles around her; I think she was performing a scene from her favorite movie. It was a great morning.
Near the end of our time, Mrs. Rempel suggested we give the kids some time to "play" together, and we took them to the football field, which they loved. By they, I mean the kindergarteners and the sophomores. High school kids love recess. As we walked onto the field, I saw the image above, an image that summed up the day, that demonstrated why it was so worthwhile; it conveyed one of the key goals that we had hoped would be reached during the hour. Thank goodness for cellphones, or I would not be able to share that image. The sophomore girl is somewhat quiet in class, but she is bright, attentive, and thoughtful. She makes my class a better place. The young man does not speak and has an aide to help him in class. They made a connection, and they, and all of us who watched them, are better for it.
This is step one of the project, and it wa a great way to start. I cannot thank Mrs. Rempel enough for taking a risk and being so willing to work with us. Our administration, from the Central Office to our principals Paul Erickson and Michael Ellegood are supporting our efforts. Fellow teachers are diving in, such our media specialist at BHS, Janea Gray, who previously taught at the elementary level and is guiding me in and my kids in what we do. susan Jordan, an incredible paraprofessional in my class, and Laura Miller, a fellow teacher, are helping me pick up the slack in my room when we need it. And the kids. They are as excited as we are.
With all of those things going for us, how we not have an amazing learning experience that will make each and every one of us better?
