Whenever BFA takes large groups of students on trips, we have a system for quick attendance. The kids are divided into teams of 6-7 with one adult assigned to each group. When we regroup from free time or if we need to do a quick attendance check for security, the head sponsor announces "Find your sponsor." Meanwhile the adults have spread out and are waiting for their kids to check in. Then the adults check in with the head sponsor. In a matter of minutes we can accurately tell if we have our 80+ people in one spot. It can be a bit confusing though when we try to call our specific kids.
When we were in Normandy, one of my fellow sponsors called her kids possums. In Australia the possum is a bit cuddlier than our North American possum. And it's also a term of endearment. So in the Paris metro she would call out "Possums" and her kids would come scrambling. My kids wanted to know why we didn't have a fun name. I was so tired by then that I couldn't think of one.
But I am ready for senior trip. I saw this picture in a nature magazine the other day.
He's a European badger. So Andrea will call hers possums and I'll call mine badgers! I was at the Christmas market the other day and saw an adorable hand puppet of a badger and that got me thinking. Wouldn't that be fun - to wave the badger puppet around? Or to get pictures with him in Rome? Of course the teenagers would probably die of embarrassment. So I didn't buy the puppet but it has me wondering - what could be our badger symbol?
And many of the kids recognize the badger right away because they are often the heroes of the middle school adventure series Redwall. I asked a sophomore the other day what he thought of being called a badger and he said that would be fine because badgers are always strong warriors in Redwall! Again, here is a book series that is a mainstay of middle school life.
