LYNNFIELD — This week, the Lynnfield School Council met to discuss programming for a community-wide celebration across Lynnfield Public Schools this spring that will kick off on May 15.
The title of the event, which they referred to initially as “Family Week” as a working title, is still in the works, but the sentiment is that students will have an opportunity to celebrate their identity and culture through activities, conversations and a community-read with the children’s book “You Matter” by Christian Robinson, as well as take-home activities they can do with their families after school.
While the details have not yet been finalized, the group met to go over logistics and the event programming.
“The “You Matter” march that used to happen was more of a Huckleberry [Hill Elementary School] thing, and Karen (Cronin) and I didn’t want it to be seeming like it was a Huckleberry or Summer Street thing, this is supposed to be an initiative that that is for all of our schools, all of our students and all or our families,” Huckleberry Hill Elementary School Principal Lauren King told the group. They chose May 15, she says, because that day, which happens to fall on International Family Day, comes at a perfect time in the school year. “At first we were talking about different cultures, and then we realized that was a little bit narrow, so we stuck with the day because it’s May and MCAS (testing) is over, and it’ll be more time to open it up to each other and not leave anyone out, considering folks who don’t have families,” she said.
The council then discussed the idea of changing the name to something even more inclusive, like the “Everyone Matters” or “Every Story Matters,” before breaking off into groups to look over the presentation on their computers, which at the time was still being worked on, and included guiding practices for teachers to follow. They also discussed the possibility of including the student advisory council and members of the community, as well as potentially older students, to come and read the book, “You Matter,” to the younger students.
The council plans to continue this discussion in its next meeting on March 17.
