What makes a family? In a word, “love.”
A succinct, yet powerful, reflection from Gabi Adversalo, a 4th-grade student at Clark Davidson Elementary School, at the conclusion of the ‘Family Day’ activity at CDS.
Family Day is a 45-minute experience, helping make connections between students from all grade levels and with educators they may or may not have as a teacher during their educational journey at CDS. Each ‘school family’ is made up of at least two kindergarten, two 1st-grade, two 2nd-grade, two 3rd-grade, and two 4th-grade students (at least 10 students total). Two-by-two, students are paired up with a classmate in their grade, and depending on their grade level, 3rd and 4th-grade students will walk down the hall to pick up two kindergarten or 1st-grade students that are a part of their school family and take them to their school family’s classroom.
Matt Cavanaugh, Principal of CDS stated, “Family Day instills a sense of confidence and responsibility in our older students. They are empowered to find their respective school family members, help guide them to the appropriate classroom, and model appropriate behavior during the activity. For our younger students, this gives them an opportunity to connect with a ‘mentor’, or a peer-model student they can look up to. It’s incredible to see the relationships built and how they can prosper into positive character-building moments. I am grateful to the staff at CDS for their dedication to making this a successful program.”
When the 'school family' students settled into their respective classrooms, they began the activity. In Mrs. Oxendine’s school family, each member started by sharing their ‘Good Things.' Some told stories about their recent experience at a local pumpkin patch, others about decorating for Halloween or choosing their costume, or about the upcoming trick-or-treating event they were planning to attend. They were able to find shared experiences in each other’s stories and connections began to form.
The fall-themed project for Family Day was to decorate a pumpkin, utilizing a theme of what their school family was grateful for. Mrs. Oxendine asked her school family, “What are you grateful for? What is something you appreciate, or something you care about?” Students replied with things such as food, shelter, and friends, and a resounding theme of ‘family’ rose to the top of their list. As the discussion continued, students were then asked to define what being a part of a family meant to them. From kindergarteners to 4th-grade students, their responses included, “All of us being together,” “helping us know each other,” “learning new things together,” “making new friends,” “smiling,” “caring for one another,” “having fun together,” and after patiently waiting for her younger friends to share their thoughts, Gabi profoundly responded with the simple word, “love.”
You could feel a shared sense of belonging as the discussion unfolded, and the students, two-by-two, took their ideas from the discussion around the classroom reading carpet and painted their wonderful expressions of family onto their classroom family’s pumpkin. As students were wrapping up their pumpkin designs, we asked Mrs. Oxendine what having this school family meant to her as an educator. She stated, “The leaders in my family are empowered to help lead these lessons. They help reinforce expectations and without hesitation, our younger students follow intently. It’s wonderful to me because I get to connect with students longer than just the one year I may have them in my classroom. I get to support them on their journey all the way through CDS. I feel connected to them. It really expands my relationships from just my classroom family into the whole school family of CDS. "
In what seemed like only a few minutes, the Family Day activity was ending, and an announcement came over the intercom that it was time to return to their regular classrooms. The older students guided the younger students back to their homerooms, and then they returned to their respective classrooms. On a regular school day, having all 400 students moving about simultaneously would appear chaotic, but during family day at CDS, they were ALL able to swiftly travel to their destinations in an orderly fashion, exercising patience and kindness along the journey.
As Gabi was walking back to her 4th-grade classroom, we asked her about what having a ‘school family’ meant to her. She stated, “We get to spend time with ALL students. It is fun to connect with students that you would only otherwise just see as you pass through the halls. When I was younger, I wanted the older students to notice me and get to know me, versus just walking by me. Having my school family makes me feel like I belong at CDS.”