What an amazing day of building community for the Cardinals! We had an unexpected visit from Upper School Photography students who were interested in visiting with us and wanted to get to know the children in our community! We were so excited to learn that the older kids were interested and doing the same things that we were at this time of the school year! Our new friends stayed to play with us a little and took some photos to use for a display in the Upper School to reflect our full AFS community. The children loved the time spent interacting with the older students and we hope that this is only the beginning of a wonderful rapore.
We decided to take a walk around our school today in hopes of meeting more people in our school community. We were so successful and excited about all of the wonderful encounters we came upon on our walking adventure. Actually, we started our adventure with the intention of stopping at 2nd grade to deliver a ' Kindness Card' to our new 2nd grade partners to express our appreciation for the time they spent reading to us last week. On our way , our friend Shannon Haley, one of the 1st grade teachers popped her head out of the doorway and both greeted and welcomed our Cardinals for an impromptu visit with her 1st grade! It was so much fun! Chelsea and Evan were especially excited because this was their sisters' class! We had many friends in the 1st grade class who had been in Early Childhood,and it was very special to see the children in such a grown up way! Our friends the Owls were passing by and they also stopped in and we all joined together on the meeting rug for a brief gathering! First grade is studying Monarch Butterflies and we had the opportunity to see the chrysalis in the butterfly box. We invited 1st grade to visit with us sometime and they were all thrilled to accept the kind invitation. So off we went to continue our community adventure...
Walking down the Arts corridor we peeked into the art room and saw Sam working with 3rd graders creating art with tissue paper. The large windows into the art room were ideal for observing!
We continued down the hall a bit and peeked into Jason's music room. Jason came to the doorway to say hello to us and then invited us to come in! The children were so respectful of this new space and were quite remarkable in connecting with Jason for a impromptu music lesson.
Our community adventure continued as we walked back to our classroom! We met Felix and his 3rd grade going to lunch and Sandy and Betsy who are the teachers of 2nd grade.
This day turned into a really special experience for the children in helping to foster the feelings that a community brings. We felt welcomed and the feelings of belonging were so beautifully expressed by all. The children learned from meeting new friends and this was a wonderful way to practice new social skills. We know that this is only the mere beginning of our days where we will continue to build a sense of community.
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