In 2012 an assembly in the city rarely sets up chairs. Kids in the elementary or junior high usually sit on the floor, in rows. The first time I saw that, in the 1990s, having been trained in the 1960s, I was shocked. Why do we make kids sit on the floor? And yet I realized that with so few caretakers around, the set up of chairs is very demanding and the gym is often needed right after for classes.

There are often pep rallies at junior and senior high schools, sometimes optional for kids to attend but amazing. I’ve been at a few at Western, one of our biggest high schools and the noise level, the loud music blaring, could rip the roof off. It’ s exciting and electric. The schools want kids to feel engaged in school activities, pumped up with enthusiasm for their team, their sport, their school. Even the way teachers are introduced at the start of the year at some schools is done with football team entry enthusiasm. 

I’ve seen some very touching things at school assemblies. A Remembrance Day service at a school with at least 1200 students created silence during the minute of silence so intense you could hear breathing. The solemnity watching the cadets marching in was striking given that in the 60s and 70s some students had a cynicism about war and were part of a peace movement. In 2012 having also experienced more recently the Gulf War and Iraq and Afghanistan, Calgary has lost soldiers recently, and solemnity has returned.

At one high school the choir  in a darkened room performed and various singers of extraordinary talent had been singled out for solos. One girl shyly stepped forward and sang to the crowd of  800 or so and suddenly the place grew quiet. Kids spontaneously got out their cell phones and waved them in the air, their lights shining like kids used to do at rock concerts waving their lighters. It was a huge tribute to her and she was a gifted singer. 

I was at a Mandarin school assembly where the elementary students performed with hoops and paper dragons and I sat nearly stunned to see how well a dance teacher got little kids to do rap, breakdancing, zumba, African dance, hip hop, jazz.  I love to see the products of really good teaching.

Assemblies are our way of celebrating kids  and though over the years they have changed, they have also not changed. Kids still forget their lines, sing off key, wave to their parents in the audience, and miss their cue to walk across the stage.  It is always endearing and sweet. Nowadays half the parents have their camcorders on, smart phones recording it all and many schools are also filming the event for a DVD.

It’s amazing what you can teach kids to do, from Irish dancing and square dancing to high end gymnastics. The child seems such a shapeable vessel, full of creativity and waiting for us to give our best so they can show their best. I never feel we quite tap all they have and yet sometimes I am wowed by how well a few teachers are doing this. 

The MC is often a student nowadays, with the teachers in the background, encouraging, whispering. There is often a strong component of computer based technology for the background music, video, even the lyrics for display.  The school microphones, still are what school mikes have often been, less than optimal, but hey that’s a budget problem.  Some schools put on drama productions with high tech effects and lighting.

The school I taught at yesterday is having a special day today for its grade ones. It is pyjama day and they get to wear pyjamas, bring one soft toy to hold and a  ‘healthy’ snack.They get to watch a movie together prior to spring break.  Teachers work hard to figure out what would be special for kids and try to arrange a few events to make their school experience fun.  That is what teachers have always done.

The school picnic is a thing of the past and few have a school ‘fair’ now with dunk tanks or penny carnivals.But many schools have fairs to show off the students’ art work, their creations from wood shop, their musical skills. These displays have not just a pride component though  – they are also promotion.  Each school is also trying to entice students who could choose other places to attend.

 Some high schools offer the International Baccaulaureat program. Some offer more vocational courses than others do, some French or Spanish or German or Mandarin, some more trades, some more arts. There are even schools for boys, for girls, some wth traditional school uniforms, some with more laid-back personalized scheduling, some for internationally competing sports athletes.

The celebrations the kids are given though, are touching.  Kids enjoy field trips, going to the science museum or Heritage Park, the zoo or a farm .  They may look forward the whole year to that big event-  going to Quebec or France or Costa Rica or sailing out in BC with classmates and sponsored by the school with a  lot of fundraisers.

I have never really bought into allegiance to any particular school and ‘school spirit’ is something I find random. But I am a big fan of kids loving their school wherever it is, and being proud of what it gives them because in a way it is pride in one’s own value.  Once in a while a person might be tempted to make fun of a school building or policy but that is dangerous ground to walk on. For most people who ever went to a school, it is their past. You don’t walk on that. It has an aura about it because it is part of who they are.

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Teachers in frontier schools also tried to give their students special events.

In 1899 May 24th was a big holiday for Victoria Day or Empire Day. Students took part in parades where they could. Awards assemblies were also celebrations as were Hallowe’en, Valentine’s and Easter.  Teachers even in 1910 tried to create decorations of paper chains and special activities and games.

 In 1913 at Mount Royal school kids were allowed to bring treats and some brought peanuts or candy. Once in a while they might even put a candy onto the teacher’s desk.  Principal William Aberhart once in a while would bring each class two bags of puffed  wheat candy they loved.

In 1914 kids at one school wanted a school picnic and though not officially allowed to organize one,  secretly did so anyway, even booking train cars to transport students to Midnapore. The picnic happened but the organizers were reprimanded for not having gone through channels of permission and for not having had adult escorts.

In 1918 Crescent Heights school presented the play “As You Like It’ and many schools held penny carnivals where you could fish for prizes and throw balls to knock down bottles.

The school in rural areas already was often the party place, the community hall for the weekend dance for adults. The school picnic in June was a tradition and parents might even bring home made ice cream.

The Christmas concert was a big tradition at rural schools in the 1920s and 30s. Teachers had to coordinate dates for theirs with other schools because some families went to several concerts each year. They would come from miles around. There was always a Santa at the end handing out goodies to every child. The goodies in the Depression had been long planned and saved for by the teacher. Sometimes she had ordered each child a book. Sometimes the community had even had a fundraiser weeks before to get the teacher the money for these presents. Teachers knowing the importance of the Christmas concert took weeks planning for it, making sure every single student had a role to play. Some acted, some made speeches, some sang.

For these concerts teachers used all their creative muses, especially in tough economies. Paper chains were hung and colored chalk was used on the blackboard..  The  reed organ may be missing some stops or keys but the show must go on. Parents helped out a lot, some bringing coffee made at home, the pot wrapped in blankets and then reheated on the school stove. Concerts may involve professionally made curtains or just blankets strung across rope by the ceiling but kids were celebrated for what they had done well. It has always been so.  Parents made costumes, teachers planned programs and did rehearsals. Students practised and practised their skits, their recitations, their songs.

In 1938 some of the school celebrations were for gardening. Students might bring their best produce to school for judging and the best parsnip could earn a child a 25 cent prize. Teachers might also inspect gardens. 

In 1939 nearly all Calgary students were able to leave school to go sit on the hill by Rotary park and watch the king and queen go by, and wave their Union Jacks at them.

In 1943 teachers took kids on field trips, sometimes to the library or by street car to the zoo. Most of the time teachers took an entire class alone, and there was less concern than today about dangers or parents signing waivers.

In 1943 many schools held concerts too but one of the biggest days for every school was Arbor Day. On that day, around May 15th each year, rural school kids did a huge clean up of the building in the morning to win the right to an afternoon party.  Boys raked and shoveled the property and girls scoured the walls and floors, washed desks, cleaned windows.  They would shine the wood stove and after, they got a picnic as a reward.  In later years Arbor Day was a day when children were given saplings to take home and plant in their yards, with the vision of giving Calgary eventually more trees.

For many kids, standing in front of a crowd at the school assembly was their first public speaking experience. Performing at the school concert was their first time to show a new skill to the masses.  The schools knew these moments were special, and always provided them.  It was a chance to have the spotlight, and for little kids to move up in responsibility. As one said to her parents gleefully  before the concert, “This year I’m not just an angel”.

The schools linked up with the Calgary Exhibition for some award celebrations. Particularly good penmanship or making a good bookmark or blanket stitch were rewarded in city wide contests at the Stampede in the 1940s and 50s.

Even after the war, schools encouraged community activism.  In 1954 students collected milkweed pods because the silk in them was useful for flotation vest for the Red Cross.    In later years the music festival attracted thousands of school choirs and bands and the science fair drew in school-wide and then city wide competitors.  Nowadays there are city wide debate championships too and school students can compete in national and international math and physics contests too. It’s all about celebrating what the kids do well.