A snowy March walk to our elm tree

Dear families,

After walking through a show-stoppingly silent and beautiful Tompkins Square Park at lunchtime yesterday, we agreed that we just HAD to drop everything and take the kids there in the afternoon. Before the park was pounced on by snow ball throwers and rowdy crowds in the after school hours, we wanted our class to witness this familiar place perfectly still and coated in inches of fresh snow. We had been missing our beloved elm tree that we visit every Friday throughout the year (in warmer temperatures) so we set out to go visit our tree. The snow was really coming down!

As usual we circled our tree and sang our song to it ("This is my trunk. I'm a tall tall tree . . .") and this time also had a "mindful minute," a completely silent 60 second moment of mindfulness. We do this in school to help focus our minds and bodies. Yesterday we used that time to take in the look of our tree in the snow storm, feel the cold air in our lungs and listen to the sounds of the park. It was so quiet we could hear shovels scraping the sidewalk outside of the park's gates.

Tiffany took photos of us around our tree, and as she did a man approached her, showing her a beautiful black and white photo he had just snapped of our class. He came over to us to introduce himself and tell us (just the teachers) that he was there visiting the elm because it was the sight of his partner's memorial  three years ago. He told us how happy it made him to see life and love in this spot that was so special to him and his family. We exchanged email addresses and he sent us these beautiful photos:

This morning we were inspired to respond to our experience yesterday with art. The children studied these black and white photos, then worked collaboratively in teams of three or four to create these black and white collages. You'll find them now hanging outside our classroom.

Yesterday at the park and today in our classroom were truly special moments for us and will always be a reminder of why we are so fortunate to teach kindergarten.

love,

Clara & David