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Why did we take our entire school cross country skiing yesterday? It just felt right…and a little bit amazing.

–It felt right to listen to the voices of our students. We heard our students asking, “Will this happen every Wednesday?” and in truth, we have no idea. We heard students saying, “I don’t want to go to school on Wednesdays anymore.” And in completely appropriate middle school fashion, we overheard students planning a skip day. All of these responses stem from fear. 

– It felt right to provide a positive way for students to be in a shared seat of control; to be activists. In addition to being afraid, many students (and teachers) are also angry. Taking control of our day shifted the power back to us. 

– It felt right to show up. Over 90% of our students were in attendance at school yesterday (this is pretty incredible given the germ season). The goal of terrorism, which is how I view these prank calls, is to destroy our sense of security in the places that are most familiar. This school is a home away from home for many of us and it is safe. We saw the opposite of dwindling attendance or a lack of engagement. We will take it as a collective win!

–It felt right to be together. The relationships we have with students and between students are golden. Sharing a lap around the cross country ski course, a cup of hot chocolate, or an outdoor All School Meeting in our snow pants rekindles these bonds.

– It felt amazing to learn something new. The cross country course was icy, humbling us as we clumsily moved, laughed at our falls, and noticed the mad hidden skills of our nordic skiing classmates. How incredible to see our accomplished alpine skiers discovering a new and difficult winter sport!

– It felt amazing to be in our beautiful shared backyard. Check out the smiles against the mountain backdrop. We are all so fortunate to call this valley our home. 

Here’s to more shared ACS adventures!