Lower School Family Shares Signup Sheet

Assembly is a time for the Lower School teachers and students to come together and celebrate one another. We would like you - our parents - to not just join us for an Assembly, but to be the main attraction.

Most families have special traditions for holidays or customs that are unique to their family or culture. We would like you to spend a few minutes on various Friday mornings from 9:00-9:30 a.m. throughout the year sharing with the Lower School students and faculty. For example, perhaps you have a special tradition at Thanksgiving that you'd like to recreate to show the students, or maybe you have a slide show of a holiday you celebrate. You could read a favorite story associated with a special occasion. Your imagination sets the limit for possibilities. These presentations should not be longer than 15 to 20 minutes in length, so hopefully, they won't feel too daunting.

Here are just a few examples from last year:
- Gloria Ramirez, parent of Victoria (Grade 2) and Emma (Grade 6), sat down with Ms. Santos (former Kindergarten teacher) and Señor Bartholomäi to have a conversation about what makes their Latino and Hispanic heritage special.
- Frankie Pincay (Grade 1) and her mother, Ms. Rekhter along with Lior Mavlyanov (Kindergarten) and his mother, Mrs. Mavlyanov, gave a wonderful presentation that included a read-aloud, an explanation of the menorah, and an informational video teaching us how to play the dreidel game for Hanukkah.
- Zuri Butler (Grade 4) and her mother, Ms. Pfeffer read a beautiful story titled Seven Spools of Thread and brought in a kente pattern craft for each student in the Lower School.
- Ms. Morisset, mother of Jeremiah in Grade 1, read the story Mmmmm! Soup Joumou! detailing the celebration of Haitian independence and the significance of Soup Joumou.
- Ms. Ban and her daughter, Raelynn (Grade 2), and Mr. Trinh along with his son Marcus (Grade 1) shared their Lunar New Year traditions and captured the attention of the entire division with their demonstration of the Lion Dance.

On this signup sheet, you’ll see a list of dates and occasions for you to consider; it is not exhaustive. You may have something you would like to share that is not included.

When signing up for a date, please include the following in the “Comments” box:
- Preference for an in-person* or virtual presentation
- A brief description of what you’d like to present
- Materials and/or equipment needed for your presentation

Please feel free to add that as an "other" option in the checklist. Include a date and the event and we'll try to incorporate it.

With your help (and a bit of courage!), we know this can be a fun way to get involved in our Lower School Assemblies. Please consider participating - your child(ren) will LOVE it! (And they can be included in the presentation as well, of course.)

With eager anticipation,

Karin & Ariel