Community organizer

A couple of weeks ago, just a few days into the new schoolyear, Edith reported with excitement that her class would be holding a Sports Day. We asked when, and she said that the date hadn't been set, but that they were definitely doing it, and that we needed to bring in popsicles and lemonade as our contribution to the gala event. Usually parents sign up on a sheet at school when goodies are needed for a school celebration, but we respected that Edith knew what she wanted to bring and agreed. A few days later she prompted Tom to secure the goods, even though the date for Sports Day was still undetermined, and the two of them came home from a store run with the popsicles and lemonade.

For the next week or so we heard frequently about Sports Day in her report about the schoolday. The kids and Mr. Allan were planning which events to include--Edith said she'd suggested tug of war. They were practicing. They decided on a date. By way of confirmation, we got an email invitation from Mr. Allan a few days later, featuring a full-color Sports Day flyer. The competition would pit the kids' team against the parents' team in every event--tug of war, sack races, soccer, bowling, etc. Tom and I were sorry to see Sports Day was scheduled for Thursday morning, when he would be out of town and I would be teaching. But when we broke this to Edith, she cheerfully nodded that Mr. Allan had told them some parents would be able to come and some would not. She seemed more excited about the event than about the prospect of our coming, which was a relief.

Thursday dawned warm and sunny, Edith headed off with lemonade and popsicles, and late that afternoon an email from Mr. Allan popped up in my inbox, featuring a PDF file of Sports Day pictures. (The teachers often send the parents photos in the afternoon while the kids are napping, especially when they've had special events.)

The photos made it all look like great fun. But most surprising to me was the brief description in the email itself. Everyone had had a great time, it said, and the kids handily beat the parents in every event. Then, "Special thank you goes out to Edith, who thought this would be a fun activity to do as well as bringing in a special snack for all her friends." It turned out she designed the flyer, too. We'd had no idea that the whole thing was her brainchild. Well, her brainchild after listening to a story in which there was a Sports Day. She'd been the impetus behind turning the story into a full-scale class event. It seems as though her love for acting out scenarios she has picked up from stories and her tendency to try to direct others in joining in were channeled to good effect this time. Our community organizer.

Just a small jump from here to a Nobel Peace Prize.