It was a "reward," but I'm still not sure a reward for what, as, first, it was for becoming a 700 school, a goal we did not make; then, it was a reward for our WASC peformance, but allegedly the confirmation letter just arrived Monday, the same day the carnival equipment began arriving on campus; and, finally, it became a fund-raising activity to pay for incentives for this year's standardized testing. No one knows where the funds originated to pay for the carnival, but most are sure the principal did not, as he said publicly and often, personally pay for it to thank the students for either performance on last year's standardized testing or the recent WASC accreditation.
For whatever reason the carnival came to campus, we had another in the endless stream of minimum days, this one culminating in supervision of a carnival, rather than classroom curriculum. Guess in some ways it turns out to be the same ...
The idea was much better than the execution: none of the 6 (yes, 6 rides for 2800 students, all of whom arrived at the same time with high expectations ) free rides were operational due to power issues. Some of the rides loaded up with kids--and then stranded them when the power failed. After about 20 minutes, the power came back on--briefly--and the rides intermittently limped along for a couple of minutes on half-speed, and then the power failed again. It took a full hour and a half before all of the rides were operating at the same time, which is too little/too late.
There were the common carnival booths, but no one told the kids that the booth games would cost them to play. Two students proudly showed off the stuffed animals they won at a booth, animals that cost each of them $10! The carnival offered a "good" deal: 5 tickets for $5, or 10 tickets for $10, with a guarantee that the payee would win a "free" stuffed animal. The students, recognizing a bargain, gladly paid the $10 to get a "free" tiny stuffed bear that probably cost $1 in Mexico. So, with the free rides not working and the game booths charging for the students to play, the event quickly lost its luster.
The students were also promised free lunch, and it was available--sort of. There was one food stand, manned by school personnel, where students received 2 free carne asada tacos and a bottle of water. The meat for the carne asada looked delicious, and the school personnel were barbequeing it as fast as they could, but there was no way 2800 kids were going to be served in a timely manner. During the hours' long wait, the students queued up in the blazing hot sun, and the line was still in place 2 hours after the students were dismissed from class to get their free food and ride their free rides.
No shade, no water, no food, no free rides. Nowhere to go and nothing to do.
I watched this for about 90 minutes from the safety of the shaded balcony in my part of the campus, and decided that the kids weren't having much fun. It didn't take long before the kids began leaving campus in droves, flooding the surrounding streets with packs of disappointed kids looking for some fun and excitement.
Good ideas need good execution:
- the rides should have been in full working order the day before the event. If the carnival couldn't operate the rides, the event should have been canceled.
- hot dogs and/or hamburgers should have been served as they could have been precooked and heated the day of the event. Carne asada was a nice idea, but it's not something that can be prepared on-site for a crowd of 2800 hungry kids.
- the bottles of water should have been iced and available throughout the event. One bottle for one student didn't work in the 80 degree weather. The PE department has portable fountains that hook up quickly and could have helped provide hydration to the hot, hungry kids.
- there should have been a dozen food booths so the kids all could have been served quickly and efficiently. Standing in line for 2 hours to get 2 carne asada tacos and a bottle of water didn't seem much of a reward for anything
Finally, all school personnel should have been included in planning the event, preparing and serving the free lunch, and supervising the event in an organized manner. If we all had been included, the burden for this event could have been spread over more shoulders, rather than putting it all onto the dozen shoulders in the "inner circle." For the many times I resent that all of the decision-making comes top down, this is one time I was glad to be one of the excluded!
As it was, those of us who are conscientious stayed on campus and supervised students as best we could. Those who don't give a rip left early to begin a nice, long weekend at noon Friday, rather than beginning at the 3 pm end of day the contract stipulates.
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