Category: Lower School Traditions

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Lower School Traditions

The Triangle Rules

By John Trout
Lakehill Preparatory School, Head of Lower School

For eleven years now, Lakehill students have accepted the challenge of illustrating Lakehill’s three rules of behavior for our Annual Triangle Rules Poster Contest.

You read that right. We have just three rules in Lakehill’s Lower School: the Safety Rule, the Respect Rule, and the Welcome Rule. Everything a student can be expected to do or to avoid doing in our hallways, on the playground, and in class boils down to those three basic ideas.

These rules are simple, and therein lies their genius. They require students to think before they act, to imagine the natural consequences of their choices, and to craft a school environment that is warm and friendly. The Safety Rule reminds students to be aware of their surroundings and their bodies. When students push the boundaries, we, as teachers, ask them to tell us what could go wrong, and to decide how to correct the situation. The Respect Rule encourages empathy. Students are asked to imagine how a situation might look from another point of view, and to imagine how they would feel if roles were reversed. The Welcome Rule promotes togetherness. It reminds students to reach out to others to ensure that their peers feel wanted and have a place in the group.

Dozens of Lower School students have submitted posters that creatively remind their classmates of our Triangle Rules, and I expect dozens more will flood my office on the deadline date Tuesday morning when school resumes after our four-day weekend. The winners and runners up will be celebrated at our Triangle Rules Assembly on Wednesday, October 18. The winning poster will be reproduced for display in every Lower School classroom and along the hallways, so that students can be reminded all year long of who Lakehill students are meant to be.

 

 

Categories
Lower School Traditions

Three Simple Rules

By John Trout
Head of Lower School, Lakehill Preparatory School

How may rules did you have when you were in elementary school? I remember giant lists hanging on my classroom walls when I was growing up, and they all seemed to be telling me what I shouldn’t be doing. Ask any Lakehill Lower School student how many rules they have, and they can tell you. Three. Just three! And, rather than telling students which behaviors are unwanted, our rules remind children how a Lakehill student should behave. Students are expected to Be Safe, to Be Respectful, and to Welcome Others.

Such vague, nebulous rules don’t tell kids very much, and that’s their genius. They require students to think before they act, to imagine the natural consequences of their choices, and to craft a school environment that is warm and friendly. The Safety Rule reminds students to be aware of their surroundings and their bodies. When students push the boundaries, we, as teachers, ask them to tell us what could go wrong, and to decide how to correct the situation. The Respect Rule encourages empathy. Students are asked to imagine how a situation might look from another point of view, and to imagine how they would feel if roles were reversed. The Welcome Rule promotes togetherness. It reminds students to reach out to others to ensure that their peers feel wanted and have a place in the group.
This year, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of a special tradition in Lower School, the annual Triangle Rules Poster Contest. Dozens of Lower School students submitted posters to creatively remind their classmates of our Triangle Rules. The winners and runners up were celebrated at our Triangle Rules Assembly on Monday, October 17. The winning poster, a construction-themed illustration by third grader Madeline Jones, will be reproduced for display in every Lower School classroom and along the hallways as a year-long reminder of who Lakehill students are meant to be.
triangle-rules
Categories
Lower School Traditions

Cure for the Common Wednesday

By Ray Dent
Lakehill Preparatory School, Director of Development and Alumni Relations

If asked about their favorite day, many would pick Saturday or perhaps Sunday. After all, there is no school. Additionally, in most families, on those days one can do a lot of fun things or just relax.

My favorite day is Wednesday and, no, it has nothing to do with a camel. On that day the Lakehill Lower School has a morning assembly entitled Wonderful Wednesday. For me, those gatherings have transformed a lackluster middle of the week so-so day into a refreshing, recharge your low batteries, don’t ever want to miss it day!

Each Lower School student gets to have their own “Special Week” at some point during the school year. On the Wonderful Wednesday of that week the student presents a project he/she has created to help the teachers, classmates and guests at the assembly better know the student. The projects start with Kindergarten students who make a picture poster about themselves and proceed through fourth graders who create a Power Point presentation about their accomplishments and things of which they are proud.

The assemblies are always fun and go by quickly because Mrs. Brooks, Lakehill’s Lower School Coordinator, sequences everything with the skill of an air traffic controller directing a beehive of jets around an airport. In addition to the Special Week Student presentations, within twenty minutes we pledge our allegiance to the flag, sing happy birthdays, highlight whole classes of students “caught doing something good,” read from small strips of colored paper on which Lower School students have written about a classmate doing something nice or being helpful to another person, salute special accomplishments of students or teams, and listen to impressive recitation of memory work from each grade. Finally, we all sing together the Lakehill Alma Mater to close the assembly.

Should the middle of your week ever get to be a drag, go to the Lakehill Lower School Assembly and find out just how Wonderful a Wednesday can be!

Categories
Lower School Traditions

Butterfly Memories

By Patti Brooks
Lower School Coordinator, Lakehill Preparatory School 

Springtime means so many different things to so many people! In my case, for almost 30 years, it has involved the metamorphosis of the Painted Lady Butterfly.

In my second grade classroom, we always highly anticipated the arrival of the tiny, squirmy larvae from Carolina Biological Supply.  When they arrived, everyone usually shouted happily, anxious for their own larvae to “raise”. (Many even named their larvae).

We distributed the larvae in clear cups, giving two to each child. Each day, as we arrived at school, we were amazed at their growth! After a couple of weeks, the nice fat larvae would slowly make their way to the top of the cup. The magnifying glasses we used were a big help as we tried to see the little suction feet, called prolegs, help the larvae climb. Eventually the spinnerets wove the chrysalis and the “waiting game” began.

It is not easy for children to wait….patience with the process of nature is hard! Eventually each chrysalis starts its swinging rhythm and the time has come for the miraculous emergence! (If you have never witnessed this stage of metamorphosis, I hope you get to see it sometime in your life. It is truly amazing to watch the adult butterfly push out of its case and spread its moist wings for the first time!) We then had a fun “Release Party”, enjoying snacks and releasing our butterflies to the world of nature.

A respected colleague of mine told me that this process reminds her of the metamorphosis that a child goes through from Kindergarten to his or her senior year! This analogy is a great one…taking much patience, care, and help along the way from loving parents and teachers alike. Luckily, we have lots of great teachers and parents at Lakehill and the process is a success over and over again!

Categories
Lower School Traditions

Spring Fever

By Patti Brooks
Lower School Coordinator, Lakehill Preparatory School

I am lucky enough to be one of the few people in Dallas without allergies. To me, Spring Fever isn’t associated with the miseries created by the pollen from blooming plants and trees.  My Spring Fever centers on the urge to smell freshly mown grass and the fragrance of our tulip tree blossoms accompanied by happy 7 year olds.

For years spent in the second grade classroom, I could feel the magnetic pull of the windows!  My students (and I), all wished we were outside running and playing in the sunshine instead of doing Phonics! (Ha ha, little did they know how I felt the same way they did.)  Actually, they figured it out when we took our first neighborhood “nature walk” of the spring.

We always felt a little guilty when we left the building and other students behind as we walked outside into the warm air. I remember how it was impossible to keep from skipping, even if you are an old Nana. We always took baggies with us and gathered nature’s treasures along the way.

It was a fun and carefree way to welcome spring. Just ask any Lakehill student who spent a year in my second grade room if they enjoyed our own special celebration and tribute to “Spring Fever.”

 

Categories
Lower School Traditions

A Holiday Just For Kids

By John Trout
Fourth Grade Teacher, Lakehill Preparatory School 

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet, Give me Something Good To Eat!

Is Halloween really a holiday?  The banks still cash checks and take deposits, Wall Street and Capitol Hill still give CNN and Fox News plenty to talk about, the postwoman still dodges biting dogs to safely deliver our latest Amazon.com order, and it’s business as usual across America when October 31st rolls around.

And why shouldn’t it be?  Our adult world has its own nightmares, troubles, and haunting thoughts that we only wish flicking on the lights would banish. Halloween is not for us.  It’s for the kids!

I’m not sure if the students at Lakehill really realize how lucky they have it.  When I was a kid, it seemed like my teachers tried their hardest to pretend that Halloween didn’t even exist. No ghosts, no witches, no jangly skeletons for us.  Halloween was to be handled on our own time (and after a regular day of school and a regular night of homework).

How the times have changed!  At Lakehill, Halloween is not just acknowledged, it’s embraced! Our annual Halloween Carnival, run by the older middle schoolers and parent volunteers who remember the thrills and chills of their younger years, begins with a parade of lower school superheroes, ghouls, and ghosts marching through the school hallways, with the older kids (in their own costumes) cheering them on.  After an afternoon of bobbing for apples, fortune telling, and even a haunted house, trick-or-treating-aged kids get to hop into the carpool lane and head home not to face the horrors of a night of homework, but to enjoy a homework-free evening of costumes and way too much candy. They enjoy, in short, the kind of Halloween my friends and I could only have dreamed of, and would certainly never have imagined actually existing in our lifetime.

So, tonight is your night, kids (and kids-at-heart).  Enjoy it!  And, be sure to say thanks to the older kids and adults who help make it a magically spooky night.  They know how important it is to let kids be kids on the one holiday that’s truly just for them.

Categories
Lower School Traditions

Rules

By Patti Brooks
Lower School Coordinator, Lakehill Preparatory School 

Life is so full of rules!

Many of us like the feeling of having safe boundaries each day….I know that I do!  Just about everything we do has rules, sometimes they are spoken or written, but more often they are just understood.  Those are the hardest to follow and the ones that are the most challenging each day.

In Lakehill’s Lower School we have a code of behavior called the Triangle Rules.  These rules are written, spoken, and understood. In my opinion, it takes all three types to make sure these rules are understood by everyone.

Each year, our talented 2nd-4th grade students (under the expert guidance of Catherine Huitt, their art teacher) draw posters to depict their own perception of these rules. These posters are wonderful, creative, and very expressive.  A committee of teachers judges these and picks a winner each year. The winning poster is copied, laminated, and displayed throughout the Lower School as a daily reminder to us all.

The rules are simple, but direct. They are:

1. THE RESPECT RULE—Students are expected to respect themselves, their classmates, and their teachers.

2. THE SAFETY RULE—Students are expected to act in such a way that they do not endanger themselves or others.

3. THE WELCOME RULE—Students are expected to include one another in classroom and playground activities.

Wouldn’t our world be a better place if everyone everywhere followed these rules?

Categories
Lower School Traditions

Monday Moments

By Patti Brooks
Lower School Coordinator, Lakehill Preparatory School

We have begun a new tradition in Lower School this year called the Monday Moments assemblies. Many goals are in place for this weekly K-4th meeting, such as:
1. Spotlighting the patriotism shown by our Lower School children when they stand tall and begin the assembly with the Pledge of Allegiance….(I must admit the first time I heard all of thier voices ring out, I felt like crying. It was so moving to see 140 children so respectfully pledging their allegiance to our flag!)
2. Recognizing the individuality of the FOCUS students in each of the 5 grades. We introduce them and their parents to kick off a week of special attention showered on every Lower School student each year. This special, fun week really gives us insight into the many talents of each student as they enjoy the spotlight in their classroom each year they are in Lower School.
3. Celebrating the accomplishments of students who have said their Memory Work for that six weeks or have done exemplary work on their Reading or Math Folders. Lower School teachers are always watching for outstanding work to praise.
4. Fostering school spirit in many ways such as singing the school Alma Mater and learning a cheer from the Middle School cheerleaders. (We raise our hands, pound our feet, and blast out “Lakehill Warriors Can’t Be BEAT” with exuberance and excitement.)
5. Bragging on the accomplishments of individual students who have won competitons, medals, trophies, awards, badges, etc. outside of school. We have a wonderfully talented group of children, many who excell at several sports and have varied talents. We like to “sing their praises” often!
6. I have found that everyone has some talents, but not all children know their talents. One of the most important goals of the Monday Moments assembly is to point out the talents of those who are kind, unselfish, and compassionate. The Rachel’s Challenge links  are helping us accomplish this goal. Children turn in links to their teachers, praising and thanking their peers for “playing with me when I was lonely at recess”, “walking in with me to get a bandaid and help clean my cut”, “smiling encouragement at me when I got the answer wrong”, etc.  These heroes in our midst are being noticed and recognized in front of the whole Lower School each week. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if every Monday in every office or place of business this was done?
I’m proud of our wonderful Lower School students and the outstanding teachers that make this assembly possible. “It takes a village” and ours is working smoothly.