The Party for the Kids

I really hadn't planned to be away from my blog for the last few weeks.  It just seemed like there was always something that took my thoughts away from writing.  Now that I am entering the final half of my swan song in education, I again feel the urge from within to put some words to word processor.

The month of December is unlike any other for an educator.  First, it is short.  Years ago, our school system's Christmas break ran from Christmas Eve day until the day after New Year's Day.  Occasionally, that meant almost two weeks off; others it was barely a week.  That was then, now because the union negotiated a two week time period no matter when the holidays fall, there really isn't a short period of time any more.  Although many students (and teachers too) may think it is still too short.

December is more than fewer school days.  It is the month that the musicians in the school show their stuff. Yet, it is even more than that.   Invariably, all schools do something for their community. Some raise money for the homeless, others get cans for food banks.  We have done those.   At North performing and community service come together in the form of our annual Kids Surviving Cancer Party.  This year was the 27th  installment.

This party started in 1986 when Orv Schlatter and our students found out that the daughter of the assistant principal's secretary was facing cancer. They wanted to create a party so that the family could have a day away from cancer.   In preparing for the party for this girl and other children like her in our area, they came to realize that the party should be for the whole family. It was important to have a day that allowed the family to be together, have some food, get some presents, and enjoy the talents of our performing arts students.

In the early years, I knew about the party, but it wasn't until Orv retired that I got involved.  That was when I knew why we, as a school, put so much importance on this day.  In helping to plan it, I observed that our students, without hesitation, volunteer their time, prepare performances, and for a few days in December, put others before themselves.   But the day of the party each year, our students really blow me away.  Each of them makes the families feel like royalty.  And when the families are gone, they ask me to make sure that they can be involved again the next year.

These last few years, after I returned to North Side, I sponsored the party again.  Three weeks ago, my last party mat have been my favorite.  We didn't have to struggle for the money because we raised so much last year and so many of our community members made donations.  Everything went as it always does.  Almost two hundred of our students were involved.  The families enjoyed what we prepared for them.

It was when the last family went to the stage to see Santa that the party came to its climax for me.  A couple led their twins to Santa.  I don't know which had cancer because it didn't matter.  They were three years old.  They were on Santa's lap, and they were impressed.  Their smiles when they left to get their gifts told it all.  A few tears formed in my eyes.  One of the students who had helped me to plan the event touched my arm and said, "I know you are retiring, so I want you to know that I will make sure that we keep doing this party."  The two teachers who were there said the same thing.

It is okay for me to go.