Lower School Community Day has become a beloved highlight of the academic year for our youngest learners. With a specific theme at its center each year, the day allows mixed-age groups to learn the value of community and deepen connections and friendships along the way.
To start the day, student groups paired up and got to know one another. Listening is a critical skill for forming lasting friendships and connections, so students had the opportunity to “introduce” each other to the larger group by sharing their partner’s name, one thing their partner loves to do, and one thing they look forward to next year.
This year’s theme, “We are Stronger When We Move from Separate Groups to One Community,” kicked off with a book discussion and activities based on Anya Glazer’s book Otters vs. Badgers. The picture book shares themes of overcoming prejudices and finding common ground through the story of two feuding animal groups separated by a river. Students were asked to think about whether otters and badgers are stronger when they compete with each other or when they work together. During a brief reflection period, students discussed what made the otters and badgers feel separate in the first place, what changed that helped them become one community, and where in the story the animals seemed strongest.
Once the tone of working together was set for the day, students set off for their activity rotations, which included the First Grade Book Swap, a scavenger hunt, and community games in the South Gym, such as cornhole, giant Jenga, pop rockets, checkers, washers, and more.
The First Grade Book Swap is an annual event in which Lower School students and families support the local community by donating books to schools and organizations in need. In the days prior, students flexed their math skills by tracking daily book donations and boosted their reading skills as each student selected one book to take home before the remaining donations were distributed. This year, the Lower School community collected 668 books, and their organization of choice to receive the books is City Academy, which plans to use them as a family lending library.
The scavenger hunt had students traversing all corners of campus, including the Middle School Front Lawn, the Lower School playground, Polk Pond, and the athletic fields, working in pairs to find items ranging from something smooth or rough to something that changes color or smells interesting.
After lunch, students flocked to the McDonnell Athletic Center for the annual Kids Heart Challenge in support of the American Heart Association (AHA). Lower School PE Teachers Susan Orlando and Jim Lohr built a robust, age-appropriate obstacle course. The course included a weighted rope pull, a balance beam, an army crawl, mat climbing, zigzag running, and hula hoop and jump rope stations. If any energy remained from the students’ morning activities, it was burned off in this course.
A special highlight of the Kids Heart Challenge was a cape-wearing Junior Kindergarten student, Santi L. ’39. Santi was diagnosed at 18 months old with an atrial septal defect, more commonly known as a “hole in the heart.” Due to the hole’s large size and shape, she had to have open-heart surgery last summer to repair it. Her mother, Lower School Teaching Associate Kelly Licon P’34, ’39, said, “We were told to expect 5-7 days in the hospital…but not Santi! She was home 48 hours post-surgery. We just had her six-month post-op appointment last week, and she does not need to go back for two years!”
Santi’s story was a fundamental part of this year’s fundraising effort for the AHA, which raised more than $13,000. Orlando said, “This year was the first time we had a younger student that we knew of who was affected by a heart problem. When Santi told her classmates her story, most of the kids knew about heart issues affecting older people, but were surprised to hear that one of their classmates had heart issues. It showed them how individuals, both young and old, could be affected.”
Santi helped kick off the MICDS Kids Heart Challenge wearing her honorary American Heart Association cape. Licon said, “After Santi had open heart surgery, being able to participate in the Kids Heart Challenge at MICDS meant so much to our daughter and our family. She’s proud to help other kids with heart conditions and show that even the smallest hearts can be incredibly strong!”
Orlando added, “I love how the Kids Heart Challenge involves so many families, besides charitable giving. Twenty-two families completed hands-only CPR training, which teaches that even the little ones can help in an emergency by calling 911 or getting help while adults are caring for the person.”
Lower School Community Day demonstrated that the heartbeat of any community is strongest when every person, no matter how small, plays a part.