(no subject)

[the_rck]

Cordelia's first day of spring Cross Country Kids was this morning. She was dubious that it was really happening and made me come most of the way to school with her. We got across the street, and she finally decided that she could go on on her own. There were cars coming through and dropping off other kids, so she saw that there was going to be CCK after all, in spite of the snow. I did tell her that she's welcome to come home if it turns out there's no CCK.

She never runs at CCK. She walks and talks with her friends. She hates running. (Why she plays soccer, given that, I have no idea.) She says right now that she doesn't want to do the 5K run that will end the year. This is her third or fourth year of CCK, and she's only done the 5K once. That was last year. She finished it. It took her a while, but she finished.

The future of CCK is uncertain. It needs a faculty sponsor to keep things going, and most of the teachers won't be returning in the fall. The gym teacher who died a few months ago started the program years ago. Since he's been gone, it's been run by one of the first grade teachers. The PTO does provide funding-- There's bottled water for the kids most weeks and little prizes for completing laps (plastic feet that go on a chain. Cordelia has a huge collection). There's also fruit at the 5K, lots of it. Last year, when I helped out, there were oranges and grapes and watermelon.

CCK is just one of the things Cordelia's school has that I'd like to see continue. The family fun nights are great for the kids, and there's winter carnival and the ice cream social. There's bagel Friday (and fifth grade camp) and the international dinner. There's the book fairs and the PTO plant sale. There's the talent show. There are other things I'm not thinking of off the top of my head. I think there will be enough continuity in terms of local families that the stuff that relies on parent organizers will survive. The things that rely on teachers are considerably iffier.

I wonder, too-- There are things that the fifth graders currently do because they're the oldest in the school. Will those things be shifted to higher grades as the years go by or will the fifth graders continue to have special responsibilities? I think they want to keep the middle school at least kind of separate from the elementary school, if only for the dignity of the older kids. It would make sense to me to have the fifth graders continue to act as safeties and continue to raise and lower the flags.

Comments

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

Random data point: At AALC the safeties are fifth graders. (Or maybe it's fourth, but I think it's fifth.) The school goes from grades K-8. They don't have a flag. But kids of all ages have special responsibilities, such as certain grades care for certain gardens, for example. For whatever that's worth.

[the_rck]

Good to know. I think fifth graders are ready for some responsibility, so I'd hate to see it taken away from them. Of course, I wonder how they'll mark sixth grade and up as distinct from the earlier grades. It should be interesting to see.