LIFTING OF MANDATE UNMASKS YOUNG & BRIGHT
It’sa cold March day at the Catholic Academy of Stamford, but Ms. Berberich’s second grade class is in the school’s backyard digging around in the Grows Garden, exploring the produce and having fun together while they take turns planting flower bulbs, those which are frozen on the bottom due to the cold air. Although passersby might be able to see the group, they surely can’t hear the blissful, exhilarating noises of children’s play. A symphony of laughter filled the brisk air and smiles of baby teeth spread wide across small, bright second grade faces as they ran aimlessly through the grass.
“Last season when we were out here, we all wore masks. It’s refreshing to get to see their faces and their smiles, it’s nice,” Danielle Jahn said, one of the leads of the parent volunteer group that frequently hosts student groups in the garden. “They just light up when they come in here.”
The group of second graders were then tasked with picking carrots out of the raised bed, that which was met with a stampede of feet charging toward the soil. As the students scoured through the vegetable garden, each gleamed in awe as they held the orange stalk high to show to their teacher.
“I like that we can grow veggies and carrots. I like carrots a lot,” seven-year-old Jackson Fiske said, one of the first students to pluck a carrot from its root. “My grandma grows carrots in her backyard.”
Red leaf lettuce, Swiss chard, kale and cucumbers are just the short list of all that has come out of the CAS Grows Garden. The added bonus of
the garden is the opportunity for connectivity, that which has only sprouted upwards since the Connecticut school mask mandate has been lifted.
Peering through the windows of classrooms revealed the in-school energy in a way that was both figuratively and literally unmasked — teachers and students are seeing each other smile again, and sharing the excitement together.
Second grade Mason Paterno says he “can breathe way better” without his mask. The young students, however, have seamlessly integrated sensitivity into their dialogue about unmasking, and therefore are respectful of the students who continue to keep their masks on.
“You can say that it was a safe choice because people can still get COVID and they may not be fully vaccinated,” Paterno said of classmates who may remain masked while inside the classroom.
The unmasking experience at New Canaan Country School has been somewhat similar according to Head of Lower School, Meaghan Mallin, who stood in the entryway as students arrived on their first mask-less school day.
“It was a really beautiful moment,” she recalled. “As they entered the building, they were clearly feeling
a strong sense of connection with one another which was expressed throughout the morning through fits of giggles.”
Throughout the pandemic and mask mandate, teachers at New Canaan Country School adopted the term “eye-le,” the smile in the eyes above the mask. This terminology came into the mix as teachers understood more and more that interpreting facial expressions is a key element of what it means to understand social context, something students faced obstacles with once facial coverings became mandatory.
“Being able to piece together tone of voice, language usage, body language and facial expression is at the core of developing vital social skills,” Mallin said. “Children use facial expression as a way to connect.”
Now, with masks beginning to come off within the walls of Connecticut schools, not only are schools seeing smiles again, but they are also regaining the environment where relationships form because of them. Closeness and connectivity to those around us often begins with a simple smile, and young students are on their way to more smiles, more laughter and more meaning both in and out of their classrooms.
To learn more, visit www.catholicacademyofstamord.org and www.countryschool.net.