Meghann y Michael: School Week

"School Week" sounds far less glamorous than "Semana del Colegio", but the craziness that was the three days leading up to our September vacations wasn't lost in translation... not even a little bit.

So far from my experience working in my very posh Chilean school, School Week is in the top 3 things that I wish I could bring back with me to a Texas school eventually.
(The other two things are actual recess for children of all ages.. like more than 10 minutes, because kids need to spend at least part of their day just being kids.. and the teacher uniform. Seriously, I can't adequately describe my feelings for the delantal. It simplifies life so much...it deserves a blog post all its own.. honestly)

Anyway, Semana del Colegio was a three-day break from all things academic organized entirely by the students for the students. What would undoubtedly be called a "gigantic waste of time" in the United States, was so fun to watch unfold. Obviously, something organized entirely by kids lacked what we might call, complete organization, and was more what we should call semi-organized chaos at times, but was something that every kid, from age 4-18 seemed to enjoy every second of.

The whole school was divided into 4 alianzas (including the teachers). This year the theme was "International Festivals" and each teach had to prepare a presentation to start the week that included information about their particular festival (so I guess they did learn something) and costumes, and dancing... so much dancing. My team was Red, and also Chinese New Year. They made a giant paper mache dragon. That happened.

Then, every minute of the next three days was scheduled in manner that had kids running, dancing, screaming, jumping, in every corner of the school. There were choreographed dances, non-choreographed dances, teacher dances, basketball games, dodgeball games, trivia races, talent shows, sack races, a go-cart race, and even mini-dieciocho fondas. There were even "Misiones Imposibles" recorded around town and played for all of our entertainment. My favorite: "Sit by someone on the metro, answer your phone and say "Tengo el cuerpo, que hago con el cuerpo?" Everything earned points that were added up little by little until the winner was announced between Cuecas on Friday. Aside from the somewhat shocking costume choices and dance moves coming out of the conservative Catholic environment which are things that make you go... eep, the week was chalked full of smiles.

To sum up, these three days reminded me that there is so much more to school than being in class. The kids took so much pride in what they were doing and in upholding the traditions of this yearly activity. Chile has taught me in many ways to, for lack of a better way to put it, freaking chill out and stop worrying. I think our schools in the US could use a little bit of this mentality before we create an entire generation of kids that hate school so much they confuse that with hating to learn. (You didn't pass the STAAR, now you don't get lunch with your friends for the entire year.... YOU ARE KIDDING ME!) Learning happens even amid the chaos, and sometimes... you've just gotta DANCE!

Photo evidence: (the child on the right is 4th grade Chilean me... Down to the teeth, kind of nerdy demeanor and mad dance moves)