6th Grade Participates in "Ceremony of 12" Activity

The Sixth Grade Humanities class is reading Lois Lowry's popular dystopian novel, The Giver. There is a scene in the book where the 12-year children, a.k.a. "Year Twelves," are assigned jobs based on their personal inclinations; these are the jobs that they keep for the rest of their time living in their dystopian community. The event is called the “Ceremony of Twelves.” 

On February 20, MS Humanities teacher Carolyn Donovan brought this fictional event to life for her students by gathering them in the MS Smith Collection Space and, in her role as "Chief Elder," she assigned each student a "job" in the SSFS community–though of course their jobs were just for the afternoon, not a lifetime commitment!

The activity began with Carolyn welcoming the students with the following announcement (adapted from the book and from a lesson plan):

This is the time when we acknowledge differences. You Elevens have spent all your years till now learning to fit in, to standardize your behavior, to curb any impulse that might set you apart from the group. But today we honor your differences. They have determined your futures. This year’s group has many different personalities. One of you has a real skill for enforcing rules and justice. Another loves children, and there is one among you who has an unusual scientific aptitude. I have also noticed some who find physical labor a desirable activity. I will now call all your names out and announce your new career to the rest of the class! I will pass you a card that explains your role in the community. 

Students applauded their classmates as names were called out, and students were assigned various roles based on their personalities and interests: 

• Speaker (documenting and reporting on community activities and events; making community announcements); 
• Giver Receptionist (greeting and providing information to visitors); 
• Cultivation Specialist (helping on the farm to deliver food to the community); 
• Accounting Specialist (overseeing all numeric transactions for accuracy and accountability); 
• Advancement Specialist (allocating resources to community members); 
• Information Coordinator (create and maintain informative displays and bulletin boards); 
• System Maintenance Coordinator (ensuring maintenance and operations of technological devices and IT systems); 
• Instructor of Language (instructing and preserving a unified and precise curriculum and system of grammar and language); 
• Caretaker of Sevens and Caretaker of Elevens (assisting in the oversight of younger members of the community)
• and, of course, The Receiver of Memory (responsible for holding all the community memories for the society).

Later that afternoon, the students met with various “Chief Elders” of the SSFS community to give them a sense of the jobs that make our own campus function: for example, LS Assistant Head of School Joel Gunzburg took the “Caretaker of Sevens” kids over to the Lower School to assist with carpool; the “Cultivation Specialist" group walked with Francis Zell to observe the Community Farm; the “Giver Receptionists” helped Erin Ryan with tasks such as updating the bulletin board by the front door; the “Accounting Specialist” kids met with Business Office Controller Marie Maurer; and the “Speaker” group met with Margaret Rosser from the Marketing & Communications Department. Incidentally, this activity connected nicely with a recent advisory lesson from the OIEJB [Office of Institutional Equity, Justice, and Belonging] about the appreciation for the “invisible work” people in our community do.

Below, you can see some of the photos that the “Speaker” group took as part of their documentation task, where they interviewed students in various jobs. The activity was a great example of how teachers use creativity, our campus, and our community to bring assignments to life for our students!