assembly | Mama Cormier

…..all on the same day

To say it was a busy day is an understatement. Our soccer games for the West End Conference Finals were moved up to today because of a scheduling conflict within the organization. At school we had already booked our assembly and Jump Rope activity for the same day.

At first I was a bit upset because I’m also the coordinator for the Jump Rope for Heart activity and one of the soccer coaches. Luckily my principal is very generous and understanding and she suggested that I go with the girls in the morning for soccer and return in the afternoon for Jump Rope. If the girls moved on after their first game my colleague and the second coach would stay with the girls.

As it turned out the girls did win their first game. They begged me to stay for the next game so I agreed to stay for the first half but then I really did have to leave. When I walked toward the car during the second half the girls were ahead by one point but as I drove away I saw that the other team scored. I knew that if they lost this game they would be back at school within the hour.

When I got back to school I watched part of the assembly and at the end of it I took the photo of all of the Future Aces winners. Then I set up the tent for the music equipment and the prizes that I had for the skippers. As soon as the children came out for recess we started skipping and continued for a good hour. Teachers chose students who were working extra hard and sent them to me for a prize. Some of the older students performed their favourite songs with the microphone and near the end of the hour we had a jump off where specially selected students jumped for a short period of time while teachers and student helpers counted how many times they turned their ropes. We had 3 different age categories to make it more fair. All in all it was a great event.

…..and guess what? The soccer team didn’t return within the hour. In fact when they did return they ran over to me and declared that they had won all their games and were going to the city finals in two weeks. Yeah!

….after a stressful and frustrating couple of days, an act of kindness melts my heart

Today was much calmer at school. The children actually got outside for recess despite the overcast skies. We started the day with our Character Education assembly and two of the kindergarten classes entertained us with fantastic performances featuring the theme cooperation. Mr. J. presented the trophy to this year’s winning floor hockey team and handed out medals to the boys’ touch football team that came in second in the City Finals. Mrs. F’s grade 3 class performed a musical production on the Orff instruments, conducted by Ms C. In my opinion it was one of the best assemblies we’ve had this year.

Now that all the voting for favourite books in the library is finished some of my stress has been lifted. I managed to email the last set of votes before I left school today. All day during library classes the kids were truly interested in knowing how the vote went. In art class the grade 3s continued on their weaving projects. I’m really loving this assignment. It’s so relaxing and the kids really like it. One of the students who finished his project is working on a design for our class project that everyone will participate in. When it’s done we will donate it for the silent auction at this year’s Fun Fair at the end of May. I’ll keep you posted on our progress.

I started and ended the day with soccer tryouts for the grade 4/5 girls. A group of students wanted to help me in the library and I told them what I really needed was a clean office and clean art equipment. They were happy to take up the challenge. All I really wanted was to have the paint cleaned off the palettes and brushes from Monday’s class.

When I walked into the library after soccer practice the room was dark but I heard a few giggles and my three helpers jumped out from behind my office door and yelled surprise. Not only had they put away all the books but they cleared off my library/computer table, washed all the art equipment, polished the sink, tidied the counter and organized the table and surfaces in my office. If that wasn’t enough they brought me a tray of fresh fruit and made me a cup of coffee. What a great way to end the day. They made me feel very special.