Tricks and Treats
Here's a salute to teachers all over the US, who are coping with kiddie madness today. No holiday belongs to children more than Halloween--and teachers usually approach the day with a mix of stoic resignation and determined tolerance for excess. As in: I got through this before, and I can do it again. Pass the Kit Kat bars.
I once worked with an elementary principal who loved Halloween. He spent weeks creating his own alternate persona every year, and fine-tuning details of the school costume parade and parent volunteers. He visited every classroom personally to talk to kids about safety, and shared his well-developed theory around why it's healthy for children to fantasize about being princesses and rock stars. He spoke about how we all need practice in facing our fears in safe spaces.
This principal encouraged teachers to embrace the seasons of the school year. This was before the "holiday curriculum" came under fire as lightweight and/or biased, another reason to grab the instructional reins from dim-bulb teachers who would rather count the seeds in a pumpkin than tackle serious worksheets on evaporation vs.
