In Praise of Snacktime

Long ago, in another lifetime, I had a son who did not like school.  He did alright in the early grades but by the time he reached high school, he was barely passing.  He did not like being just a number in a teacher's grade book.    In desperation Papa and I decided that in order for Aaron to survive the whole high school experience we needed to find a school  that was small, where  all the students were known intimately by all the teachers.  We found such a place in Falmouth Academy, a small reading and writing private school down the Cape.  The Academy at the time Aaron attended had 160 students in grades 7-12.   There  were 31 students in Aaron's sophmore class.  I knew we had made the right decision a week after Aaron started at Falmouth when he came home all enthusiastic about school.

"Mom, you need to pack me a snack each day besides my lunch.  Do you know we have snacktime? Really Mom...at 10:30 everyday the whole school has snacktime in the gym...even the teachers have snack.  We all get together and talk.  People make annoucements...kids put on skits...we sing and just talk."

I had to smile.  Falmouth Academy was doing no more then something we in kindergarten have been doing for ever - providing a time where children could relax and be part of a community and share our lives in conversation.  It really doesn't matter what the snack is....what matters is the sharing that goes on.  And so when I look at these images of snacktime that Lynne M. took last Tuesday when we had our snack outside for the first time this spring, I smile.  On the surface, it looks like the kids are just eating...but if you sat down at the table, you would discover it is so much more.












































During snacktime three airplanes went overhead leaving vapor streams in their wake and the children speculated where the planes were traveling and why they were leaving messages in the sky.







"I bet that plane is going to Disney!"

"Hey, I can't see...the sun's too bright."










On this day, snacktime also provided me with some personal time with Leah, our little friend whose house burnt down the previous Thursday.  After many of the children had finished snack and were off playing at recess, I could talk with Leah about how she was feeling. 













I didn't really need to ask Leah any questions.  As she drank her chocolate milk and ate her cookies she shared her feelings of what it was like to escape from the fire that consumed her house.  For Leah had been home from school the day  the house caught on fire.  She had chicken pox and she, along with her older sister Becky, were in the computer room playing a game when they smelled smoke.

"We did the right thing, Mrs. Evans, Becky took my hand and took me outside and then we told Dad down at the pumphouse and he called 911.  It's ok...the firemen said we did the right thing."  With that she took a sip of her milk and then started laughing and fooling around and making funny faces.



Yes, snacktime is a time for sharing...a sharing of happiness and hurts and knowing someone cares.





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This article is the result of a colloboration of Gatherite Lynne M. and Elizabeth Evans.