We Are the World

I realize I may gripe from time to time about certain aspects of Lauren's school. Primarily how far away it is from our house and how much it costs. Of late, those laments have been a little more frequent.

But then the 3 kindergarten classes get together and put on a program entitled "We Are the World" that involves singing and dancing in both English and Hebrew. At the same time, they exhibit a sensational presentation relating to an animal each child chose and has been studying for the better part of 2 months. At least for the meantime, that 30-minute drive each morning and pinch on the wallet doesn't feel quite so burdensome. Instead, I'm back to feeling pretty darn fortunate, which is more like the real me.

First up was the singing/dancing program, held on a recent Friday morning in the kindergarten village (the area in the middle of all of their classrooms). Parents, grandparents, and siblings crowded the space, perched on itty bitty chairs that lined the space. Cameras flashed, video cameras whirred, and beyond the children singing, the air was permeated with a chorus of "awws" from the audience. Not to mention more than a few tears of joy and emotion (yes, even from moi).



Lauren was again paired with Sam (yes, a collective "aww" would be appropriate here). The cuteness of those two together just kills me. There are plenty of wild and not-so-nice boys at this age, and Sam certainly is not one of them. A real mensch that boy will be, I can tell.










[Those are their animals hanging around their neck- Lauren's is a tortoise. I have no clue what Sam's is; your guess is as good as mine]

[Update: Lauren just informed me that Sam's animal is a Scarlet Macaw, the biggest bird in the rainforest. Ok then.]



Following the performance, we were led into the childrens' classrooms to view their animal projects. Stationed around the room were unbelievably detailed displays demonstrating the various research projects and crafts done by the kids relating to their animal.



One of the main projects was a paper mache version of their animals. Over the course of 3 weeks, grownups came in to help children create the animals out of completely recyclable materials we brought in. Pop-Pop Mark came to Lauren's class the first two weeks to design, create, and do the paper mache. Norm visited the final week for the painting.



The finished product.



Her ceramic version made in art class.



On this occasion I was really able to see the love all of Lauren's teachers really have for her (and all their kids). She has a lot of different teachers for various subjects and it was amazing how so many of them were present for this event and took the time to approach me and tell me what a gift Lauren is.

Her head classroom teacher, Morah Caryn.



Assistant classroom teacher, Morah Sue (in a class of 16!).



Music teacher, Mrs. Brown.



Hebrew teacher, Morah Ettie.



Assistant Hebrew teacher, Morah Meir.



Not pictured: art teacher Mrs. Yeskel, librarian Mrs. Borkin, and P.E. teacher, Coach Eddie. Whew! Yes, that's a lot, but I'm not complaining. It's really starting to feel like a community, and for that I am increasingly grateful.