CHAN’s LABYRINTH
A Labyrinth is a way to help focus in a teeny weeny space. As old as Greek Mythology, it shows up in Indigenous petroglyphs, medieval churches and now, of course, on Mt. Lehman’s Playground. Lucy Owen would be proud (She’s the student the Library’s named after, but that’s a story for another day.)…
Take a 15 m circle, and draw out a path from the inside out, and don’t forget to breathe. If you walk and breathe for two minutes, you’ll make it to the end—whether that’s in the middle or the outside. More importantly, it’s the journey that matters most.
The Victoria Day weekend marked eight years for me at Mt. Lehman Elementary; in Principal’s time, eight years is…about three lifetimes. Good thing I ducked & dodged long enough to enjoy the memories and connections I’ve made with parents, school staff, community members, and students. I recall the excitement of coming over during the holiday weekend in 2013, with boxes from my four previous schools and unpacking them into my new office. Mrs. Chan helped me arrange the furniture and I took her for a walk through the building—at least the parts I knew about. Truth—I never really found any skeletons…even in the dungeon.
Sometimes going slow isn’t the best labyrinth experience. Find your best friend, or meet someone new. Start in the center, or race someone at opposite ends. One deep breath, adrenaline pumps, and keep your legs moving. Somehow you crawl across the finish line, half a shoe length ahead of your new friend, and suddenly you have bragging rights for the next 90 seconds. Then you do it again.
The years pass as fast as the minutes of the day. My first ever Fall Fair, and hanging out for tea on Wednesdays at the ANAVETS (Friday night dinner’s aren’t so bad either). Aart, a former student from the 1960’s donated the first logs for our FLAT playground. Suddenly we had an natural outdoor Play Area. Kids have been playing on it ever since. One Dad helped me build a bench around the 100 year old Elm tree planted by the Israel family. Another parent across the street was building their new house, so I asked for a few rocks to jump around with. Driving by a random property one day I saw a few tree stumps, and an opportunity. I pulled over, and started chatting; he laughed when I told why I wanted his tree stumps, but he was very accommodating after I showed him the cute kids who would be climbing on it. One day I put in a work order for eight wooden posts—they didn’t even ask me why—and that eventually turned into four wooden beams for kids to crawl, run, jump and twist on.
What’s the best way to leave a legacy? Create a time capsule, fill it with school memories, and bury it under the oldest trees on the planet. Living trees are awesome. Except that our Sequoia’s are only three years old…so we need to wait another 747 years to become famous.
I have never figured out plants. Until I found the biggest greenhouse on the planet on the school property, left behind by a previous Principal. We got power to the building, some former students to added an exhaust fan, and extended the Greenhouse season by 2 months. I planted sunflowers in year one; they ended up shorter than my Kindergarten students. Then it was Forrest Gump Chan, and my proudest plant moment. We built three garden boxes the following summer, and I got a BLUE ribbon for the biggest sunflowers at the Fall Fair. Actually the ONLY sunflowers at the Fall Fair…the rest blew down in the windstorm the month prior. More is always better, right? Got some more parents and my daughter help me finish off nine more garden boxes the next Summer, and these can water on their own. Now when the kids come by in the Summer to play, they can have ripe berries, harvest tomatoes & gather fresh herbs for dinner. Do you know how much kids like dirt? Our kids planted from seed, transplanted to garden boxes, and watered every day. From Spring to Summer, it’s all blooms and smiles.
The Labyrinth chronicles the start of my journey. And it’s also the end. Many thanks to all my staff & parents who believed in my leadership, my quirky ideas for kids, and walked, laughed and rolled their eyes with me through all the twists and turns. Eight years gave me three cycles of the Labyrinth, and I quietly chuckled each time they gave me another round. Best wishes to you Principal Lincoln. The next round is on you.