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Earlier this month I was a chaperone for my daughter’s field trip to see a play. All four kindergarten classes attended but because the theater is small they only allowed three chaperones per class. So we each got to watch six kids.

Overall, the kids from our school were very well-behaved but I had two kids who just wanted to do things their own way. They were pushing to get up the stairs, despite hundreds of other kids being in their way. One little girl is just so headstrong that she does not listen, so she was a challenge.

The play was very cute. This theater group was from Canada and they had puppets and performed three of Eric Carle’s best tales, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The kids all enjoyed the show and were encouraged to cheer and have fun. This was not a sit-quietly-in-your-seat show!

By the time we got back to the school and off that yellow school bus, I told my daughter’s teacher that she deserved combat pay! My head was twisted every which way watching my group and being sure they didn’t wander and making sure they didn’t stick their fingers in the holes in the bus seats, and I was never so grateful to get into my nice QUIET car to head home!

So, if you ever hear somebody complaining about how “easy” teachers have it, tell them to spend time in a classroom with 25 different personalities who all learn at different speeds and have different needs. It’s no piece of cake!

One day in January we got into a family discussion about how raisins come to be. My kindergartener was distracted by this phenomenon, not fully understanding how a big, round, juicy grape can shrivel up into a dry raisin.

Thinking ahead to the science fair that was coming up in March, I casually suggested that this would be a good science fair project and she was gung ho. Of course, my 5th grader didn’t want anything to do with the science fair; God forbid she do any kind of “extra” schoolwork. But that sure didn’t stop her sister!

For 30 days she took careful notes and pictures and studied these four raisins that we placed on the window sill. It didn’t take long - maybe 4 days - to notice they were starting to wrinkle up. By Day 15 I kept having to remind her to check the grapes since the novelty of it wore off, but her little brain really understood what she was witnessing.

The day of the science fair we put her pictures on her posterboard and she told me what to write as captions. Since all the students have to explain their projects to “listeners,” we practiced together and she carefully explained all the steps.

I believe there were only two kindergarteners who participated and my daughter was certainly in her element, explaining her project to all who would listen. That’s partly due to her personality and but also in part because she was truly interested in this question and it was uncomplicated.

Hopefully next year she will show the same kind of enthusiasm for the science fair.

By the way, it took 30 days for our grapes to turn into raisins. Had there been more sun, it would have taken fewer days!

Back in December 2007 I interviewed Christine Lane, a mom of 2 in California who was organizing a health fair as her school’s main fundraiser. I was very impressed with Christine because she is teaching by example that with enough willpower and determination, one person can bring about change.

Quite a lot has happened since then! Her website is up and running at http://www.thestudentbodycampaign.com and her main goal with the site is to teach other leaders at other schools how to put together a similar type of event. She has quite a large planning committee and they are now seeking out corporate sponsors for the event. Their hope is to have at least one sponsor per classroom in the school.

If you would like to listen to the original interview with Christine, just click this link and if YOU are inspired to make a change at your own school, then learn from Christine’s tips found on her website.