Once a month for much of the school year, the seventh graders from the Solomon Schechter Day School in Newton came to the Michael J. Perkins School in South Boston. They came to work with our first and second graders on things like reading and writing. A lot of other things were learned in the bargain--for both groups.At the end of the year, it was our turn to pay the Schechter kids a visit.
It was a busy day. Our kids saw some things they had never seen before, for example, signs in Hebrew letters. What did they say!?!
Perkins kids paired up with their yearlong partners to create a book about their days. Some of the things they wrote and illustrated were perfect examples of their similarities and differences.
Look at this page, for example, where the kids are writing about how they start their days at school. The Schechter kid, who attends a private school devoted to religious and academic studies, says that he begins his school day with prayer.The Perkins kid says that they go get the breakfast crates, eat in their classrooms, then get to work. Schechter kids eat breakfast at home.
While they are chatting, the boys also learn that they both like to play basketball.
Meanwhile, another pair is busy working on filling in how their education has made them want to have a particular job when they grow up. Or, at least the Perkins kid is because she has lots of ideas. "I want to be a doctor, no, a nurse...wait I have more ideas...a scientist..."
She is writing as fast as she can.
"I wouldn't mind being a teacher at the Schecter School," she adds.
"I like the fact that they seem so mature for their age," says a Schechter kid about his Perkins acquaintances."I think this school is cool because it's so big and they have a room just for music," says a Perkin kid.
What is another thing that all the kids like about the visit?
When the Perkins kids come to the Schechter, there is always pizza for lunch!
