Celebration of Warmth and Light

12/12/23

Tuesdays at KAS are for all school assemblies. Each student collects in their classroom to drop off their belongings and head to the social hall with their classmates and teacher.  It’s a time for the KAS community to get together and learn from each other. A time to celebrate our differences, a time to get together with buddies, a time to reflect, and most importantly, a time to grow in our experiences. 

This morning’s assembly was no different, and yet very different. 

This morning when the students arrived at school, they were greeted with colorful, festive lights lining the main hallway. Dangling from the strings of light was a cutout lightbulb and on each of these lightbulbs for each student and every staff member was an uplifting message directed individually for each person. The hallway became congested as each student took the time to find their lightbulb and read their message. I wish I could have captured every student’s face as they witnessed the festive hallway and read their message of positivity and kindness. 

They then proceeded to the social hall for assembly, but not just any ordinary assembly.  Last week’s assembly focused on learning about all the winter holidays and their common theme of light. Today’s assembly was a Celebration of Warmth and Light. 

In a dimly lit social hall, the only light penetrating from the cracks beneath the window curtains, and the many lamps that were collected from the teacher’s classrooms, sat a circle of chairs. These chairs were all occupied. In fact, we had to get more chairs, just to accommodate the amount of families that came to participate. The students came and sat in a circle around a table hosting battery operated candles. You might think that a dimly lit room can’t offer warmth, but when you fill it with the KAS community, it most certainly does. 

Principal Ellen opened up the assembly reminding everyone about the different holidays and how they all share the common theme of light. Miss Rachel, music teacher extraordinaire, had been working with each grade to learn and sing songs about warmth, light, and unity for the assembly. As each voice sang about light, a lamp was replaced with the light of a candle. 

This is my first year working at Kentucky Avenue School as the Director of Admission and Marketing. I have been quietly lurking in the background trying to figure out how to market this school, how to get the community involved, how to increase enrollment, and how to let all of Pittsburgh know that this gem of a school exists. 

It was a beautiful sight to watch the room transition into what truly was a Celebration of Warmth and Light on so many levels. This assembly captured what needs to be conveyed about KAS.