Last week T was Star of the Week at school!

Sorry not to be more timely with this hot news update, but last week was also our school’s Jog-a-Thon, which consumed more of my time than I ever thought to be humanly possible. That fact additionally explains my more-than-a-month absence from this here blog (whoops). Long story short, the Jog-a-Thon was Friday, we raised over $40,000 toward school programs, and I am as relieved that it’s over as much as I am that it was successful. But I digress….

Back to Star-of-the-Week Week… very much like “Beary Important Person” last year in Kinder, this was a week scheduled to be full of fun and sharing, both with T being allowed to bring in his stuff to share (the one week of the school year a student may bring things in to share in his classroom) but also with his being given a chance to share facts and information about himself that his friends might not otherwise have the opportunity to learn.

First T’s teacher sent home the Star of the Week tote bag. This contained a blank poster and interview form to be completed and later presented to the class on the Monday that kicked off his special week. That poster involved a lot of writing, photo printing, cutting, trimming, adhering, and the like, but nothing as involved as The Bear (thank goodness!). C jumped in right away and helped T with his star poster because like I said I was super-consumed with all things Jog-a-Thon when this project landed in our house. Thanks again, C! The poster looked great!

The bag also contained a super-cool book called (aptly) “Star of the Week”  by Barney Saltzberg. We decided reading the book before the presentation would be wise to give T the best idea of what the week means overall. Meaning, be yourself no matter what anyone thinks of your likes and interests. I strongly recommend this book for anyone with kids who might be struggling with the naysayers of the early elementary years, whether it’s your star-of-the-week week or not. Yes, in case you are unaware, there are naysayers already in the first grade set, and it’s disheartening to witness and hear about, but this book really can help arm young ones with the quiet, succinct message of “pound sand” to those naysayers. C and I LOVE that.

Up next – the classroom presentation! Unlike for The Bear, this year parents were not formally invited to attend the presentation, but Monday just happens to be the morning I “VIP” in the classroom, so I got to drop in and watch T show off his poster and interview. I love that T is already such a confident public speaker.

T also fielded many questions from curious classmates about his star facts. Lots of questions. First grade is such a fun age, and his class in particular are just a fun and funny bunch of kids overall (but I’m not biased or anything).

Lastly, T did his first stuff-share for the week: A robot toy he got from his Aunt and Uncle last year at Christmas. I was surprised he chose this but then I remembered the story… the child in the story shared his robot, and T remembered that. I don’t know where T gets his reading comprehension and recall, because it’s certainly not from me! Other great things that T shared through the week (he was allowed to bring something daily all week, except Tuesday as it was a holiday) were his Harry Potter playing cards (bought from a going-out-of-business magic store a few summers ago), spy motion alarms (recent birthday gift from a classmate and pal), and his green guitar from Uncle Pete.

At the end of the week, T received some take-aways to remember this special time, including a book filled with lovely sentiments written by each of his classmates. The book was filled with a compilation of individual writings based on circle and other thinking maps the kids brainstormed from T’s sharing sessions throughout the week. I’d share some of what they wrote here, but since it’s not my special book, I’m choosing to keep that book closed from public view (PS – the sentiments were amazingly well-written for first graders and quite sweet).

Overall I’d say T had a brilliant Star-of-the-Week week. Then again, T’s star shines pretty brightly all year long in my book, but I’m not biased or anything.

RMT’ers – does your school or classroom have any special programs like Star-of-the-Week or Beary Important Person? Share those here!