We had a wonderful first day back!
The girls served each other tea and applecrisp, talked about their schools, reminisced about summer, figured out some of the likes they share, and made themselves at home.
We spent our first afternoon together enjoying several different kinds of introductions, including learning each other's names. The girls painted their names on cards that now hang from our classroom walls.
Also in our classroom, we made a chalkboard web of just a few of the things we've discovered we have in common. It's fun to see the beginning of the web of connection that we'll create throughout our year together.
New this year is the fact that two of our long-term girls have become high-schoolers! They have agreed to step into leadership roles, for which they are very well-prepared.
The first day of In This Circle always marks a special moment at WiseBodies. It's a moment when girls, together, begin to set their own agenda for a year of girl-led, community-building and learning.
And, actually, the girls already have begun to express their girl-power by insisting that they set our start-date. Each year, In This Circle girls request that we begin a full 5 or 6 weeks after the other WiseBodies classes, so that they can fully participate in school sports.
Yes to girls claiming the right to create their own calendars, participating in sports (or not!), and deciding when just the right time is for...well, for just-about everything we do together.
Here are just a couple of the questions we'll draw attention to this year:
In how many parts of the world, including our own homes and neighborhoods, are a girl's right to speak-up challenged and sometimes prevented?
In how many conscious, and unconscious ways, do adults, girls, and boys participate in quieting and silencing girls' voices?
These questions will be explored in all our classes, and particularly here, in our all-girl class.
We'll also explore the ways and places girls' voices are encouraged, how we can participate in this encouragement, and how we can make sure girls' voices are heard here at WiseBodies.
At the end of class, mothers joined in, helping to lead us in movement and stretching, and joining us in singing our class song.
We're a full and wonderful circle again this year.
Great job, In This Circle girls!