School Management Team

Sylvia was chosen by her principal to be one of the children on the school management team. Working in groups of two or three, the kids on the team get a new task each week. Sylvia's first job was to ring the school bell six times a day: at 9 A.M., - the beginning of the school day, at the beginning and end of recess, at the beginning and end of lunch, and at 3 P.M. - the end of the school day.

The children get a wooden pole from the office that has a hook at its end that is then hooked into the bell's chain. (You can see the chain on the right here). They pull on the pole to get the bell to ring. Isn't this a lovely, old-fashioned bell? (The local high school has automated buzzers).

And here's what the bell sounds like:

(Sorry, but I could not figure out how to turn the clip so it's not sideways.)

The bell is in the middle of the back courtyard. Here in the bright early morning sun, you can see that scooters get parked in between the fence rails. (That is a stairway that is rarely used). The scooters are never locked up or stolen. Lots of kids ride scooters but very few ride bikes, by the way. The streets are too busy to be safe to bicycle in, and some of the sidewalks are quite narrow.

Other tasks that Sylvia has done as part of the school management team have been: being a "message-runner" for staff or teachers, delivering lunches, feeding the fish, trying to get the "lost property" found, and raising and lowering  the flag. (The school does not have a cafeteria, so parents can order food from a café on the corner. When the lunches are delivered, children on the school management team deliver them to the right classes).

Here's Sylvia and her peers lowering the flag while a younger boy watches. 

Don't you love those hats? You can identify Sylvia from her backpack. 

I think it's terrific that the kids are given so much responsibility, and the kids like it too.