Express Yourself!!!

Our school is a small rural school. Opportunities to do things as a whole school have been limited. We would love to put together a 10 week festival that the entire school participates in. Our goal is to have the students and staff CONNECT as a school, by ENGAGING in 10 weeks of "expressing ourselves". Each of our 7 classes would have a chance to LEAD the entire school, at one point or another, in an effort to improve everyone's sense of SELF. "Love yourself" would be the main component of our theme. The BEST way to share WHO you are with others is to be given multiple opportunities to express your true self to your classmates, and peers. Each week a class will use the main hall bulletin board space to showcase their written work (expression). At eh conclusion of the 10 weeks we are planning a carnival. The carnival involves an award ceremony showcasing the best forms of expression that were witnessed throughout the festival, with a focus also on those students "caught doing good" towards others. In short, it would be a celebration of all the students, and specifically recognizing those students who personify strength of character, intrinsic goodness, citizenship, leadership, and ability to thrive.
We want our school to be united in a celebration of "ourselves". We want to create a memorable, (possibly life changing opportunity) for students at Sullivan School to celebrate their uniqueness as they celebrate the magnificence of who they are.

Update (May 18, 2011)

Our "Express Yourself" project is well underway! The entire school is currently involved with a "secret santa" type endeavour wherein each class in the school is purchasing a $50 gift for their "secret" class (we drew names for this at a staff meeting). The objective is to surprise your class with an anonymous gift and then later reveal your class identity to your receiving class during our culminating assembly (that is being held on June 21st). This pumped up assembly is planned to end our participation in the Imagineaction project. Leading up to our assembly teachers are busy reading stories to their students about "paying good fortune forward", and discussing what social action we can take to make the world a better place. There is a great emphasis on "putting your best foot forward" and "being true to yourself". Students are expressing themselves in various ways through written projects, talent shows, dance lessons in gym, and so on.

Our school feels very fortunate to have had this grant money come our way, and we intend to make good use of this opportunity to make our school a better place for all. To leave a lasting reminder of the importance of being good citizens, we are adding 4 motivational posters to our hallways that speak to being good to others and leading your best life through kindness, generosity, respect, and compassion. These posters will serve to remind all members of the school that good things come from working together and giving back to those around us. The bottom line is it feels good to give, it feels good to express your thoughts/feelings, and it feels good to feel fantastic about who you are. We have a great peer moral going, and the staff are excited about all the good things they are seeing.

I am looking forward to our final assembly! Hopefully, all classes remember which colour of the rainbow they are representing. Our SULLIVAN stands united "rainbow" shot is going to be a good one! Thinking everyone needs their dancing shoes on that day....

Update (July 3, 2011)

Hey there! On June 21st we held our final imagineaction assembly in which the entire school participated. It was amazing! Each classroom assembled in the gymnasium on the afternoon of the 21st. It was a balmy, hot day and we were all super excited about revealing our "secret Santa" gifts to one another. First I updated the audience on how my $750.00 subsidy was acquired, in full. Most students were not aware of exactly "how" this money came to be. I was more than willing to share! I also used this time to reveal four motivational posters (that were beautifully framed) with the students of Sullivan. These posters were gorgeous and each held motivational messages for the students. The kids (and staff) were impressed. I could tell the students really grasped the meaning behind the posters...while I was presenting they were all very sombre. They enjoyed my motivational speech behind each poster. These posters were all related to character, diversity, and the celebration of life. I am so inspired each time I see these posters in the hallways of our school. Honesty, respect, integrity, and kindness are wonderful virtues that speak to remembering to have a strong sense of self (and be the best you can be to others).

In time, each class was called forward to present their secret santa gifts to their unsuspecting class. This was awesome. The energy level was high...each classroom (and grade) was equally as excited (even the grade eights). It was great fun to see the reactions of the students as their "pay it forward" gift was presented. There were a lot of excited cheers (and lots of fist pumping). Needless to say, the entire gym was alight with good feelings and positive energy. Following my closing comments we all organized ourselves into our rainbow colours to head outside for our "rainbow" photograph. Roy G. Biv (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet) were the colours of the day. If you wore red to school that day, you assembled with all the other students who wore that colour, too. Once organized we sat as a group in a rainbow formation, at the bottom of the hill in our yard. We had a friendly volunteer in to take the photograph. Every person was in the photograph! We looked smashing; it was very cool to be united like that as a school. We were a community, standing strong and united in our love for ourselves and for one another. With the remaining funds we will be enlarging the best "rainbow" photograph and framing it to place proudly in