How Do We Accomplish Things Together?

Our Essential Questions this year revolve around the idea of community. My favorite of the questions is How do we accomplish things together?

As I ponder this today, my oldest son turns 19. In addition to feeling sentimental and somewhat old, I feel really proud of the way he builds community. Last night, we celebrated at our pool with the broad community that he has built.

Throwing a party is work, and in the weeks leading up yesterday, I tried to cover my alarm when he would invite more and more people. It is his event, I reminded myself. He should have who he wants.

Yesterday, I woke up and did all the party prep, kept my fingers crossed the weather would hold and went to the pool. Looking around at the people assembled and the fun that was being had, I realized that I was looking at some answers to the question How do we accomplish things together?

• Build a diverse group of people. My son is friends with everyone. At the party last night were people from all walks of life, all different backgrounds and all ages. It was cool to see the young talking to the old, the American kids learning to pronounce Vietnamese words and the way that people found common ground. The ideas and thoughts exchanged were rich and meaningful and there was a real connection of different worlds.
• Bring food. My mom always says, "You gotta eat to live." My son and I had planned to bring food, of course, but I was touched by the amount of unrequested food that others brought. There were nachos, veggies, chicken dumplings, pigs in a blanket and extra cakes. No one left hungry.
• Be welcoming. As with any party in a public place (or perhaps just at our pool), there are folks who come that you don't expect. We generally make a practice of sharing our pool dinners with the lifeguard, but yesterday we had more than even he could eat. My son's party is, at this point, an annual event at the pool and the coolest thing happened as a result. A family we only sort of know came to the pool about an hour before it closed. Typically, they come earlier in the day. The mom came up to me and said, "I hope you don't mind that we switched our time today to see your family. We wanted to wish George a happy birthday." They ate some of the excess of food, I learned more about them and had a cool conversation about ticks with her son. As a result, our community is bigger and more interesting. 
• Show gratitude. Before we cut the cake, my son told me he needed "one to five minutes" to address the assembly. He thanked everyone for coming - and even those who couldn't come. He thanked the people who had shown him a great summer and he thanked everyone who supported him as he marked the anniversary of his transition to a new school last year. As proud mom moments go, that one is hard to top. But there was gratitude all over the place - people thanking others for new recipes, new contacts, new ideas and for help. And I was deeply grateful to all the people who gathered, in person and in spirit, to show love for my kid.

As the party began to wind down, the sky became threatening and rumbles of thunder forced the life guard to empty the pool of swimmers. There was a mess and way too much food left. Everyone pulled together to wrap up leftovers, pack cars and say farewell. Indeed, a lot had been accomplished in a few short hours.

School starts soon. And at school, there is a great deal to accomplish. Each class period and each day, throughout the entire year, the community will be called upon to get things done. How can the successes of yesterday inform the work we do with kids? What are additional ways we can accomplish the work that must be done? How might we create a space where each person in the community feels a sense of belonging? And finally, how much more will we be able to accomplish if we truly are a community that is diverse, well-fed, welcoming and grateful?