It’s been a little quieter than usual on the second floor of the Lower School, with fourth grade taking turns off campus for their Mosaic outdoor education experiences. Mosaic brings together classes from three or four schools that differ markedly in socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic make-up, giving students the opportunity to experience a diverse setting in which all are welcomed and respected. While outdoor education in grades 5-8 focuses on science curriculum, the fourth-grade Mosaic program is expressly intended to have students engage directly with difference (and ultimately, sameness!) and to build self-esteem and community. Mosaic is intended to reach students before negative attitudes about difference become entrenched and to enable them to live with, learn from, and befriend others with whom they might not ordinarily interact. Through careful classroom preparation before and follow-up after, coupled with the off-site experience in Napa, the program’s goals are for students to develop a long list of socio-emotional skills, to more deeply value diversity, and to develop both self-efficacy and commitment to creating positive social change. Here are a few “postcards from Mosaic”, courtesy of fourth-grade teachers Erika Lagrisola and Kelly Alexander’s fabulous nightly emails home to parents and guardians this year:

Day 1: “We arrived at the beautiful Mosaic site at about 11:30… Students learned the rules of camp and who was in their cabin groups and their sharing groups. They were so excited to finally get into those groups because they have been eagerly awaiting that information for months! I'm so proud of them for putting themselves out there and meeting new people. It would be very easy to stick to their great RDS buddies (which they did in the beginning), but they're all doing an amazing job of challenging themselves to meet new people.” 

 Day 2: “As an entire community, all 90+ kids listed the things that make us different and unique from each other; everything from skin color and age to height and ability. Then we noticed that all these things that we celebrated, the things that make us different and who we are, are the same things that people use to hurt and put each other down.”

 “We headed down to our evening activity called "Cross the Line." It was an eye-opening and emotional experience, and every student went to bed that night with a different perspective of many of their classmates. This activity, where students were able to choose to cross the line if they felt a statement applied to them, revealed that all of us have either been hurt or have hurt other people with our words and actions. It also showed us how much we have in common with students from other schools, as well as things we didn’t even realize we have in common with our classmates at school… Tonight there were a lot of emotions flowing… ”

“As we circled up for teacher time, one student said, “Mosaic really likes getting into circles!”  I had to laugh because he was right. We have been getting in and out of circles all day long!”

Day 3: “We learned the difference between being passive, aggressive, and assertive… Students broke into their learning groups, and all had the chance to practice being assertive in the face of difficult people and situations, and even got a chance to be an ally and help be assertive for others. After a day outside in the 85° weather, teacher time was spent doing the inevitable... soaking ourselves and each other with water! “

“The day ended with the "Very Unusual Dinner," which modeled the distribution of wealth and resources in the world. One table had toys, fancy decorations and waiters (us teachers!), two tables had a basic table and chairs, while the rest were sitting on the floor.  But in this model, the kids had the opportunity to change the world and re-create it as they would ideally envision it. In the end, they created a model for community and connectedness based on fairness that the rest of the world would be wise to emulate.  

It's been an emotional, exhausting, but truly rewarding experience. I can't believe how much the students have grown over the past three days...  When you see them on Friday, I think you may see a bit of a transformation…”

Day 4: “Today brought the week's learning together. We started off in Conflict Resolution College and learned steps to solving problems. Mosaic even has a new way of looking at conflicts: ‘It's not me against you, it’s you and me, together, against the problem.’”

“The afternoon brought the ultimate challenge, a culmination of the Mosaic week: the Peanut Butter Booger Fire Snote River… Using all  the Mosaic values as well as tools like assertiveness, listening, empathy, and "I" statements, each group's challenge was to successfully cross the river using a limited number of “boogers” (carpet squares). It was powerful to see the emotions and drama unfold as 13 students tried to come up with a plan and successfully execute it. It was also very exciting to have Ms. Breland join us for the afternoon! “

“Our final campfire…This group of kids, bonded by shared experience, sang (and danced!) their hearts out, cheered, and laughed together in the firelight. The night ended with a special ceremony, a candlelit solo walk… We're all excited to come home tomorrow, but a little sad to leave such a beautiful and peaceful place.”

“With this being my third year bringing a class here, I've definitely learned a few things that I would love to share with you to help support the kids when they return... The "Cross the Line" and "Unusual Dinner" activities can be pretty emotional for some kids…. I plan to talk about these more when we get back to class, to explain to them that the unequal distribution of wealth and opportunity that was being modeled is talking about the whole world… and how we can change it.”