For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past 20+ years, Red Ribbon Week (RRW) is a week long PTA sponsored 'don't do drugs' extravaganza. The RRW PTA chairwoman came around the school on Monday and plastered every door with a red sign saying 'close the door on drugs!'. Every trash can got a similar sign that reads 'drugs are trash!'. Each day there is some theme. Monday was wear purple (not sure why, I think they have recently lumped Purple Ribbons into Red Ribbons. Can't really remember off the top of my head what the purple ribbon stuff is for, though. How terrible! I am a teacher, I should know this stuff!
Ah well. Tuesday was crazy socks day. Again, not really sure? Something about 'knock the socks off of drugs'? I had several students wear socks on their ears, or wear socks as hair ornaments. VERY educational, as you can see.
Tuesday was also the inspirational assembly day. This year, John Bytheway came and spoke to the students.
John Bytheway is an LDS comedic motivational speaker. Now, don't get your panties in a twist! He did NOT talk religion. He did pull a few stories from some of his published books and told them to the kids. He kept over 1,000 kids happily engaged with what he was saying for an hour. That is pretty darned good!
One of my favorite stories was about a scout hiking trip. It is straight from his "What's in your Backpack" book. The story was funny and long, and there is no way I can do it justice here, but the moral of the story is that there are two factors that make our journey in life difficult; the trail we are following, and what we have placed in our backpacks. Now, we can't change the trail. Sometimes it will be smooth and easy, sometimes it will be an uphill climb. We can, however, decide on how much 'baggage' we take with us along the way. He told the kids that every time they put themselves down, they are adding a rock to their pack.
My other favorite story was about a cowboy who found a rattlesnake on top of a mountain. The snake asked the cowboy to carry him down to the warm valley. The cowboy initially said "no, your a snake and you'll bite me, 'cuz that's what snakes do". However, of course (since it's a story), the snake prevails and the cowboy carries the snake down the mountain. Once in the valley, the cowboy puts the snake down and turns to leave. At that moment, the snake strikes. While dying, the cowboy cries out, "why did you bite me?! You promised you wouldn't!" Whereupon the snake replies "YOU KNEW WHAT I WAS WHEN YOU PICKED ME UP".
This, obviously, is an excellent reference to drugs and he did tie it in very nicely. All in all, a great assembly for the kids.
Today was 'wear red' day. Tomorrow is 'wear your favorite sports team' day. And Friday? HALLOWEEN COSTUMES, of course!
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addendum: I just researched the purple ribbon thing. It is for Domestic Abuse Awareness. No wonder it is downplayed so much at the elementary school! Can you see us trying to explain that one to a pack of 5 and 6 year olds?!
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