Awkward Turtles: Fabulous Fun Day at Crystal Bay

In our debrief after returning to Churchill this afternoon I told the students in Room 308 that their greatest achievements in life will be ones that go largely unnoticed by the world around them. That the things that people give them notice for, will likely pale in comparison with their truly great accomplishments because those things that will make you feel the best about yourself will be the kinds of acts of selflessness, and community that only will ever be understood by those who were a part of the event. I told them that today was one of those types of events. Nothing I can write, or tell you in person will properly convey what these students experienced today. No words will convey to you the heights to which they climbed...no...soared today while bringing some magic to the students from Crystal Bay. The lucky parents who came along to help out had a chance to experience it, and the EAs and teachers, bus drivers, lunch ladies, and other staff at Crystal Bay also bore witness to it, but my words won't do it justice...but I will try.
I was besieged with comments from the Principal (Karen) and the above mentioned staff all day that sang the praises of our students "They are so kind and polite", "They are so enthusiastic and caring to our students", "They really know how to get our students involved", "They are so selfless"....
The comments continued all day long, about what strong leaders they all were, how blown away the adults were by the actions of the students from our class, how creative the kids were in adapting each activity for each child's needs, how great it was to see our kids wear themselves out entertaining one group, and then put their game faces on to do it all again for the next group. How there was no complaining, everyone was smiling and getting along. A few staff commented on how close knit the students seemed, and the overall level of camaraderie that was apparent amongst them.
Again, I can't even do proper service to the comments that were made about the group, they were so numerous and filled with emotion. One teacher commented on the kids, and then said "no, really, they are amazing", and then continued with "no, I MEAN it, that is a special group of kids," and then again stated "seriously, what they did was so meaningful for the Crystal Bay students, I don't think you can understand how wonderful your students were today." Obviously we left an impression.
So...what was the big deal about? What did we do? They typically end their year with a company coming in with a bunch of activities and running a fun day for their school, with other similar programs from around the OCDSB coming to attend as well. They wanted something different for just their school this year, and this is where we came in. We discussed the kinds of things their pen pals might be able to do, they brainstormed some activities, and then we organized the resources needed to carry out the event. This morning we loaded a bus with all of our gear (a considerable pile, which drew a lot of interest at school before we left). Then we unloaded, and set up a series of stations outside in the (beautifully large) yard at Crystal Bay. The stations were;
1. Ball play (many sizes and shapes, plus some nets, and the 4 foot diameter Omniball)
2. Bean Bag balance and Toss (targets, hoops, or just walk and balance)
3. Noodle tag and balance
4. Water ballon and spray bottle station (balancing, throw and catch "juggling" and basic water fun)
5. Nerf Frisbee (throwing to our hoop targets, or throw and catch with giant discs)
6. Parachutes (parachute games, adapted at times to just making tents over the students, or walking around with the chute over their heads like a roof)
7. Bubbles (blowing, and waving bubbles, or just blowing so they can catch or pop them)
Plus we had two Giant Connect 4 games set up to use, and we organized with our friends at Dovercourt to send over some staff to set up the Bouncy Castle....
So if your children are sleeping heavily tonight, it is likely due to endless bubble dunks, balloon filling, parachute raising (ow! my shoulders!), ball chasing, disc throwing, smiling, and caring. They deserve the sleep of champions. Scratch that, the sleep of super heroes, because that is what they were today. Super heroes, in the flesh, for those students at Crystal Bay. I could not be more proud, seriously, I MEAN it, no really!:) You should be too.