At the beginning of November, the Upper Elementary class took a field trip (or, perhaps more accurately, a “day retreat”) to the Bishop Jones Center, a 19-acre site owned by the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas. After setting up our home base in the Chapel House, we spent the whole day working, creating, and playing together. The weather was perfectly crisp, cool, and clear, and the majority of the day was spent outside on the beautiful grounds.
To start the day, we took an early morning meditation walk, where we explored the property and reflected on its sanctitude and beauty. Then we spent time with Ms. Kate, the art director, drawing nature scenes and creating mandalas from found items. It was magical to be in that beautiful space with nothing but our art supplies in front of us! The students were reminded of the importance of the work of Nature and how connected we are to it.
After playing some silly community-building games and enjoying a picnic lunch, we went out to the large lawn and had an extra long recess. This is the part of the day that really blew my mind. For the better part of 2 hours, the students played a class-wide collaborative game which one of the students had taught his classmates. Something that I find exceptionally beautiful about this Upper Elementary community is how inclusive the students are with the games they play. Practically every day at recess, all 11 students play a game together. They don’t break into their smaller “friend groups”. They don’t split up by gender or age. Even those who don’t typically work together in the classroom want to play together. The class group will usually meet up and discuss the game that they want to play. Once they decide, the whole group goes off and starts their game of soccer, basketball, tag, Capture the Flag, Sharks and Minnows, or whatever strikes their fancy. Additionally, the students will often create a new game (such as “Spaghetti and Meatballs”), where they develop the rules of play, create teams, decide on penalties, etc. These self-created games have made up a large portion of the recess games played this year. My favorite part is how everyone participates. Even the ones who don’t play that sport on a team. Even the ones who are not particularly athletic. Even the ones who haven’t yet learned all the rules for that game. They teach each other and help each other. Everyone participates because they enjoy playing together, creating together, and learning together. It’s beautiful!
After playing a very intense session of this new game, the UE students returned to the Chapel House where we worked on crafts and built simple electronics with circuit boards. Again, working together and helping one another, they were able to power motors and lights using the circuit boards. They also taught each other finger knitting and crocheting.
Once the day was done and the students had gone home, I felt rejuvenated and relaxed… maybe for the first time ever after a day-long student field trip! But after our time together, with so much of it spent in the beautiful outdoors with a group that is so effortlessly collaborative and close-knit, I was filled with energy, happiness, and immense gratitude for the 11 amazing young people with whom I had shared the day.