They began their adventure with a game in the front lobby and then were welcomed into the dining room where breakfast and a lunchbox of theme related goodies awaited.
The teams, as tradition holds, introduced themselves through funny skits and then Principal Phillips outlined our data and year's goals and expectations. A personality survey was taken to identify teachers as doves, peacocks, owls, or eagles, and then buses awaited to whisk us away to the zoo.
Teachers loaded the buses by their personality survey results and spent the bus ride discussing their personality characteristics. It won't surprise you, if you've ever taken this survey, that the peacocks created their own song and that the doves were so kind, they needed everyone's opinion to fill out each survey question. We are certain that the eagles finished the task first!
Upon arriving at the zoo, each team was given a menu item of activities which had assigned points. The teams, through their scavenger hunt, could chose their activities, and were charged to send pictures to the principal using their iPhones as they fulfilled their task. Principal Phillips had a spreadsheet set up on her iPad so as the teams text their pictures, she could input their points. The Resource Team ended up winning the day's challenge, however most importantly, the day was primarily designed to build relationships with your team of colleagues. A poor zoo keeper or two were probably not as thrilled with a few of our tasks!
The teachers enjoyed their zoo walk and then returned to the front entrance for lunch. The day didn't conclude without our new hire "hazing." The newbies can throw together a mean rap, and Mrs. Phillips reading our August/September Book of the Month.
We recognize that this isn't a traditional teacher's first day of school, but we also know that the time spend in fellowship will pay off dividends all year long and defines the sense of culture that will infiltrate every aspect of our school life this year. Stay tuned to hear more about our Walk on the Wild Side...
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