Alive & Well

Dear families,

Today we write to share about some moments in our school lives these last few weeks, the big and the small, the local and the worldly. 

We start with a short narrative from kindergarten teacher Jenn, whose class lives in room 201, with Kori, Kodjo and Swimmy. 

“Just wanted to share. It warmed my heart and made the struggle and huge task of moving Swimmy (our class turtle) out of my apartment (after 2 1/2 years!!  I took her during the shutdown March 2020) back to the classroom -- and it was hard for me to no longer have her in my home but of course worth it for the children.

So Emma and Anna made pictures of their houses during table time in the morning. Anna showed Emma how to draw the house and Emma showed Anna how to tape two pieces of paper together to make a bigger piece of paper. They then made these big houses and were so excited about them that they said "Let's go show Swimmy!" I observed them from a distance and they were telling her all about their drawing. It really warmed my heart. So many of the children visit, talk to and sit for a long while with this calming and peaceful member of our classroom community. Also worth noting.. some of our past families thought Swimmy had passed away since she was gone so long from our class.. but she is alive and well! At least 20+ years old at this point.”

Here, a moment of community and interconnectedness on a close-to-home scale, another living creature who will receive care and love within the walls of 610 Henry St. 

Next, we reflect on a special opportunity for our children to connect with their global community, as our fourth and fifth graders joined Little Amal in Greenwood Cemetery Friday afternoon, to welcome her with song and encourage her on her journey. 

This, too, was a community collaboration - as this opportunity to gather with Little Amal was shared with us through a former BNS parent and producing artistic director of Remote Theater. The opportunity to connect with Amal on her journey and to be part of something so global was breathtaking and extremely poignant.  

On Saturday, October 1, we had a wonderful inaugural UnityFest here at 610 Henry St., bringing together our unique Pre-K through 12th grade student and family community. While the wet weather shifted our event indoors, we were thrilled to have more than 75 student volunteers, family volunteers and 450 attendees who enjoyed food, music, games, and arts and crafts at our fall fundraiser festival.

The warmth of the community, the spirit of joy and caring, and the sense of fun flowed through the many layers of our community as we enjoyed the time together. We are hopeful that a similar spring event will become a new tradition as well, following the success of UnityFest! If you would like to make a donation and didn’t have the opportunity to do so at the event, the link is here. Also, we still have lots of UnityFest tote bags available - let us know if you didn’t get one and would like one by emailing diane@bns146.org and we’ll send one home in backpack mail.

And on Friday, October 7th, we gathered together in our 610 Henry Auditorium to share in song. Town Sings, a long-standing tradition at BNS, are times for our community to join their voices in songs of hope, peace and reflection. Split into two groups, an early childhood sing in the morning and an upper grade sing in the afternoon, we head home to a long weekend, reflecting on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, reflecting on a strong start to our 2022-2023 school year and all that the months to come hold in store for us.

We wish you a restful, long weekend of interconnectedness and hope, local and worldly.

Diane and Malika