Community Coffee and Special Persons' Day gave us a chance to share our school with the wider community. The students take their responsibility as hosts very seriously. We create hand written invitations for our neighbors (the houses and businesses we can walk to safely). We practice what to say when we deliver the invitations. We practice greeting and guiding visitors once they are in our school. Learning a more formal register to use with elders and adults we are meeting for the first time is an important skill for students. Many students gave up a recess to train to be a server – learning food safety basics as well as how to graciously serve.
It's a busy day and one that defies any attempt at routine. Students' greet their guests, give tours, and perform a short program. We focused our classroom work on projects we can share with our guests – fractals (a math related art project) and building atoms were popular this year.
Special Person's Day is a chance for us to open the doors widely and help people understand a bit of what our school is about. Many grandparents shake their heads and say, "School certainly wasn't like this for me!" I want to assure them that very few of our days include cookies, tours and musical performances – but I sense they know that.
On a different community building note: as you might have noticed when your Heron trots off to school with an 80s outfit or sports uniform on, the Herons have recently gotten into organizing themed days. It began very spontaneously when a few kids wanted to dress in 80s style. Since then, once or twice a week has been a special day for the Herons to dress up. Students usually decide the schedule at the beginning of the week and then make sure everyone knows and feels welcome to participate.
I have nothing to do with these events – with the exception of suggesting a postponement when sunglasses day was supposed to coincide with Special Persons' Day – and I've been thrilled to watch them evolve. They help to create a positive group identity. The Herons see themselves as fun, creative kids who can get things done. I couldn't agree more.
The Rookery 
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