Each year for the past six years my StrongStart centre has taken part in
the Spuds in Tubs program.
Each year I share it with at least one other teacher in the school
so we can share ideas and come together at the end
to celebrate.
This year I shared the tubs with Ms Irwin's grade 2 class.
And our big buddies class had their own tubs too.
So today was celebration day.
We started off the morning mashing our potatoes
to have Mashed Potatoe Sundaes.
Then all three classes met in the multi-purpose room where the potatoes and
toppings were waiting.
I learned today that the connections between our StrongStart children and their
big buddies are real and can be a comfort when one is anxious.
One child who is fairly new to my program, but has met the big buddies before,
entered the multi-purpose room for the first time and yelled.
That is a reaction I noticed he does when he is transitioning to a new location.
I approached him and offered to show him around and asked
if he recognized any of the buddies.
At that same moment his big buddy, who was across the room, started
waving his hand at us.
I could see the little buddy's body sag with relief and he
went running over to join his big buddy
with no further concerns.
Perfect!
We started with a brief talk about potatoes
and shared how many potatoes were harvested.
Then it was time to eat.
For toppings we had shredded cheese, sour cream, green onions, bacon bits,
hard boiled eggs, corn, gravy and dirt.
Students who have participated in the Spuds in Tubs with StrongStart before
remember having dirt as a topping.
Some could keep the real name of the dirt a secret.
Some hesitated to try it until a friend told them it was
crushed Oreos.
If you work in British Columbia and have a chance to participate in this great
program I would highly recommend it.