Brentwood/Bonner Bonding

5 May 2015Keiran MH, Rogers ‘17

In eastern Canadian universities a new fad has developed: puppy rooms, where students under pressure can play with a dog or two to help release stress. Kindergarten children, as I found out with the Kid Literature elective at George Bonner Elementary last week, have the same effect. Kid Lit is one of five electives that Brentwood’s Grade 10s chose from after completing the English provincial exam in early April. Kids Lit focuses on literature and interactions with children. While these Grade 10 authors visit their little buddies every Wednesday, most of the week they are working on a novel specifically for their little buddy which will be presented at the end of the elective. The visit I accompanied coincided with Earth Day, and Mrs. Hedquist informed us on the bus that this would be the theme of the day. This announcement came alongside reports from the little buddy class which the Grade 10s had already twice visited. The excitement for the Brentwood ‘big buddies’ was shown as soon as we entered the class. The children were anxious for their name to be called by the teacher as it was the green light to collect their supplies for an art project, then collect their Brentwood buddy and find a suitable place to make their creations. Being Earth Day, the task was to create a caricature of Dr Seuss’ Lorax out of paper plates, pom-poms, glue and a couple of sheets of paper. While the products ranged from ‘looking perfect’ from future artists, to ‘unique creations’ from other potential future artists, it was the creativity which impressed me the most. Each group worked like ants, with the dedication of small children and the supervising of older ones making every pom-pom eye twinkle in contentment. The visit wound down with math sheets and chatter between both age groups, the little ones still finding their personalities, whether it be sassy, or still of a shy nature. As we left, the littles buddies returned to their normal class schedule, and the big buddies got on the bus back to Brentwood, with happier faces and inspiration for their stories, to be told another day. Keiran MH, Rogers ‘17

Where Students Choose To Be