School Assembly #2

Today we hosted our second all-school assembly of the year. Because it was cold at 9:00 - and, there were backhoes digging up Addison St right behind the school - we held this assembly in the newly remodeled Depot. While it was a tight squeeze to get all the students in a position where they could see the front of the room, I think we actually fit in better than we had in the past, given the open layout of the North Gallery, and the aesthetics of the space felt really wonderful.

Since Mitch was off campus, I opened the assembly with a welcome and a clapping activity: clap once it you went trick or treating on Halloween, twice if you went to a party, three times if you wore a different costume in the evening than you wore in the parade during the day, four times if you watched a scary movie, five times if you know your costume for next year (at which most K-3s clapped, but very few 4th-8th graders clapped!), six times if Halloween is your favorite holiday, and seven times if you have a different favorite holiday (the majority clapped here). I then quickly discussed how I had met with teachers to redesign assemblies, and our thinking that this would be a great time to learn about each other, and what other students in the school are learning, and turned it over to Kate Klaire and the Student council. The kids did a wonderful job explaining their work - everyone spoke on the mic, from the youngest 1st grader to the oldest 5th grader - and then they put on some short skits to demonstrate the ideas they were discussing. And at the end, as a reminder to keep recess fun, they threw confetti onto the crowd!

To close the assembly, Eve Decker, our K-6 music and 6-8 drama teacher, then led the school through "The Witches" by Bonnie Lockhart, a song that the K-6 students had all learned in the last month of classes. Hearing the kids roar the song was great, and another example of how our increased intentionality around all aspects of the assemblies, from activities to song choice, has had instant payoff.