Because In Crandall Land, It's Easy to Create Crandall Olympics, Solving Word Puzzles with Chopsticks and Magnets. This is Ubuntu

Abu had his doubts. The night before I discussed my plan for a day of language Olympics, he doubted the final round - one where I would challenge the kids to perform to Somebody I Used to Know by Gotye. "These kids are shy, Crandall. They won't do it. They'll be too scared."

Wrong. I don't have the video to show you here, but they nailed it. The joy, celebration, hilarity, and awe of the performance was brilliant. We laughed, clapped, sat with our mouths open, and enjoyed every second. A week ago, the kids were too shy to lift their heads from the tables to talk to one another. Yesterday, they spelled out words using chopsticks, wrote scrips, drew, played numerous games, asked questions of an international literacy superstar in secondary language acquisition, and enjoyed every second of it.

This is why we do what we do.

Spanish. Portuguese. French/Creole. Bengali. English. It's the language of the parts of the world united to build literacy, leadership, and hope in American schools. Year 11 of Ubuntu Academy and the brilliance of the teachers and our college kids who support the literacy work are irreplaceable. I'm simply in awe.

And today ends the 5th week...no more kids next week and just a writing conference for 75 educators hosted by those of us who love teaching writing the most. 

They call us writers. This is Ubuntu. If only more communities operated as we do in the summer months.