ABSTRACT
One evening in early December, several third grade teachers at Chavez Elementary School joined a group of their students’ parents after school to plan the upcoming Winter Party. The Winter Party was an annual tradition at the school, always occurring the day before winter break toward the end of December. Teachers at Chavez typically planned the party individually, with separate parties in each classroom. This year, though, the third grade teachers decided to facilitate community-building among their students by having all of them celebrate together. Stations involving some sort of craft or game would be set up in every classroom, allowing students to rotate among the rooms, and each station would be led by parent volunteers. Rather than generating ideas on their own and assigning volunteers, the teachers invited all of their students’ parents and guardians to the meeting to help brainstorm fun party activities.
