Hello from the Crystal Site! Last night we had the first ever Open House. Parents came at 6 pm and experienced what their kids experience every day. The parents started by seeing what our morning meetings are like. Some parents and kids participated in a heated game of musical chairs (we always have a class competition during morning meeting). The kids just couldn’t defeat the parents – a proud father walked away with a Jamba Juice card.

After morning meeting, the parents went to 15 minute classes. I was definitely nervous about how the parents would react to my elective (Science). Earlier that day, the kids in my class had done an experiment with Alka-Seltzer tablets and water. They filled film canisters with different amounts of water and then dropped different amounts of tablets into the canisters. They turned the canisters upside down, and anxiously waited for them to pop up. I decided to do the same hands-on experiment with the parents, letting the kids choose how much water and how many tablets they wanted to use to get the canister to go the highest. They discussed with their parents why they chose what they chose. It was exciting to see the kids pass on what they have learned to their parents and to see the enthusiasm they had. I’m assuming that many of the parents believed that the canisters would only go a few feet in the air, because when we went outside and the first student set it up, parents gasped in awe as the canister flew up higher than the roof of the gym. The kids enthusiastically helped me explain to their parents how the Alka-Seltzer and water reaction created lots of pressure to make the caps pop off and why certain canisters went higher than others.

I loved seeing all of the parents so excited! At the end of the night, one of the parents came up to me and described how she loved how fun and hands-on the classes and electives are. Another parent gushed about how energetic and enthusiastic his son was every day when he went home. All in all, I think the night was a great success! Hopefully this night becomes a Peninsula Bridge tradition!

-Katie