Elementary Counselor, Mrs. Sutherland held virtual picnics with each elementary class. Mrs. Sutherland shared about what went on in these picnics:

The goal of virtual picnics was to provide an opportunity for friends to hang out and see each other in a 'social setting' ... well, as social a setting as Zoom gets! This was especially important when we didn’t know when (or if) we'd be able to be together again on campus this school year. So, with the news of our return, the virtual picnics this week became celebrations of all that is to come with school resuming on Monday.

The kids are mostly very excited about being back, but they also had a lot of questions about what school will be like when they return ... how different/similar will it be? All the "unknowns" left them a little bit unsure about what to think and feel ... but they all agreed that the best thing about it is being able to reconnect with all their friends and teachers! 

The picnics were a lot of fun, and each one so unpredictably different in many ways. All the kids brought their favorite food.  I think they loved the fact that they could actually eat during a “Zoom meeting!” One student emailed me to double-check if “they could really eat food during the picnic,” which made me laugh!  We had food from different countries, from small snacks and homemade treats to full-on breakfast and lunch meals. We had fancy table settings, picnic blankets and we even had a few picnic hats! 

We had kids in different time zones including Japan, Korea, India, and the USA. We met all kinds of family members = much-loved pets, moms and dads, brothers and sisters, cousins and even grandparents! Several stayed with us for the whole picnic!

We had some music, and some dancing and singing! We had kids in breakout rooms talking in their home languages and playing games. It was a fun place to learn so many new and different things about each of the students. Several students asked me if we could do more virtual picnics, and I excitedly told them that we could do all kinds of different celebrations when we are back in school on Monday!