What makes a community?
A couple of weeks ago, I was interviewed by Ms. Frye’s first grade class. One of the students asked me, “What is community?” I stumbled through an answer to this important question from an unexpected source. Events of this busy three-week period in December have repeatedly brought me back to this question.
Educator Roland Barth suggests that a good school should be “a community of learners.” My trusty American Heritage includes a definition of community that I liked: “sharing,participation and fellowship.” December includes many examples of sharing and participation that contribute to making Lawrence a vibrant community of learners.
Winter Concert: Last Thursday, students in our fourth, fifth and sixth grade choruses sang beautifully under the direction of music teacher Holly Ahearn. Every grade in the school attended one of two performances
during the day in order to share in and celebrate the music of other Lawrence students.And our school community was extended to include parents and family members during the early morning and evening Performances.
Class Breakfasts: Another form of “performance” or sharing is found in the many class breakfasts in which students exhibit and share their learning with parents, often preceded by the fellowship of being together for breakfast. Students in 2N recently performed their dragon play and shared their poetry iMovie. In 3H, children performed a water cycle play and exhibited the weather experiments they had completed. In sixth grade, students exhibited creatures they created that incorporated the parts of the brain they had studied.
Performance, exhibition, and sharing – all represent a way of making learning public and building community.
Appreciations
Phonathon: On the evening of December 8, a team of parent volunteers worked the phone lines to secure pledges for the Lawrence PTO. I’ll let them announce the (impressive) results, but, on behalf of the entire Lawrence staff, I would like to express our appreciation for the overwhelmingly generous financial support provided by this parent community. We are deeply grateful – all the more so in these uncertain economic times.