Community and Courage
12/7/2019
This week the PNA community came together to enjoy a truly wonderful winter concert. The setting was beautiful, the audience was huge and the children, besides looking adorable were all so well-prepared! As everyone knows, these events take much planning and preparation and practice, and we are so grateful for our Preschool music teacher, Ms. Andrea, who made the preschool participation in the concert possible! An African proverb states: “It takes a village to raise a child”. Well, at PNA we have a REMARKABLE village! Our village consists of a group of amazing and dedicated educators, devoted and committed families, and outstanding and enthusiastic students! There is a wonderful synergy between family and teachers and students, and every day I am so grateful to be part of our PNA community whose goal is to help students succeed at becoming “exceptional learners and independent thinkers of vision, courage, and integrity." The opportunity to participate in our Winter Concert certainly helped our preschool practice courage! But what does courage mean for preschoolers? It can be different for each child, just as it is for every adult. Performing in front of a large group can be nerve-wracking, even for adults! Because this was a first time most of our preschoolers had ever done something like this, we practiced a lot and talked about what it would be like when everyone came to listen to us. Most of our class was excited about it, but one of our friends was definitely not excited. In fact, he was quite adamant that he was NOT participating. From private conversations with him we finally discovered that he was terrified of performing in front of everyone – so much so that he wouldn’t even go inside the gym to practice lining up. How could we help this child practice courage? Our wonderful Preschool Director, Ms. Anna, came up with the solution: We allowed him to choose the space where he would be comfortable standing with the children, and she would stay with him during the performance. The place he chose to stand? Behind one of the pieces of the set. He stood just out of sight, next to the line of children, holding Ms. Anna’s hand. So, when everyone was watching all of the adorable preschoolers singing, what most of the audience couldn’t see was one member of our PNA village, caring for the needs of a single child and supporting him as he was developing the courage to do something scary. But I saw it, and it made me proud to be a member of the PNA community!
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Melissa SmithMs. Smith has a degree in Early Childhood Education and has taught kindergarten for many years. Alaska has been home to Ms. Smith for 28 years, and she can't imagine living anywhere else! She has four children, a dog and two cats. She loves reading, camping, gardening, and genealogy! Archives
April 2021
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