River School Annual Events
At River School, one of our main goals is to support young learners by working to build a strong and nurturing community around them. Throughout the year we hold several school wide festivals and events to bring students, teachers, and families together.
From our Harvest Festival and late fall Lantern Walk to our end of year picnic, these gatherings bring us closer and help us share in beautiful traditions. Taking inspiration from Waldorf teachings, Native American customs and more, we at River hope to create fun and engaging spaces where individuals can connect and community can flourish.
October
Our first gathering of the year is our Harvest Festival. This fall gathering is a community potluck, and we are joined by the Penobscot natives, the Burnurwurbskek Singers. Led by Ron Bear with his two sons and nephew, they play traditional drums, share songs, and lead everyone in dances. Before the potluck, students learn about the harvest in Maine, and what foods can be found here. The children also learn information about the indigenous peoples of Maine, how they lived, and what important beliefs and traditions they pass on; for example, how there are names of rivers and towns that are still used today.
November
Every year when the clocks “fall back,” we come together for the beautiful Lantern Walk. As the sun is going down, we gather in the park, where we come together to sing songs and light our decorated lanterns. This walk is a wonderful connection to traditions from around the world that have existed for thousands of years to celebrate light, everyone’s inner light, and the changes that come with shorter days and longer nights.
During this month, there is also a Stone Soup celebration. Being a story about the importance of community, connection, and sharing, Stone Soup provides the opportunity for the children, teachers, and families to create together. Each family is asked to bring in a few vegetables for the classes to cut and add to a large communal soup. This soup is then eaten by each classroom, using bowls and/or mugs made by the children with the help of our art teacher.
December
As the season changes and the cold is upon us, classrooms gather together to perform a Winter Spiral. Stemming from a tradition of celebrating our inner light in the darker months, the spirals get brighter as more children participate. Each student is given a chance to walk around their room’s spruce/pine spiraled garland. Using the lit candle in the middle of the spiral, children are able to light their own candles (stuck into apples) and add it somewhere on the spiral to spread the spiral’s warm glow.
January/February
Further into the winter, the students participate in a fun, colorful, and lively celebration of Chinese New Year. In preparation, all of the children read books about the festivities and traditions, and they help to create a giant dragon head that can be worn by everyone. The dragon head, along with accordion-shaped dragon puppets, are then used in a school-wide Chinese New Year parade. After the parade, the children perform their own shadow dance using their puppets and hanging, back-lit silks.
June
At the end of the year, the school gathers for our big End Of Year Picnic. Teachers, students, and their families come together for a picnic to celebrate all that was accomplished throughout the year. Families are asked to bring assorted flowers with them, which are then used to make flower crowns for all of the children. Once everyone is given the opportunity to eat and talk, the Pre-K students participate in a small graduation ceremony with their teachers. Each child has two special remarks made about them before they get the chance to run under a rainbow bridge, made of rainbow silks held up by parents and teachers; a gentle ceremony to say goodbye and to welcome all the wonderful things to come.
