TRADITIONS: Our Community’s Foundation

Traditions:

Our Community’s Foundation

by Charlie Ramseyer

When you ask our students to reflect on their time at Wichita Collegiate, after they finish gushing about our teachers, they often dive right into memories of their favorite school traditions. Immediately you hear about the usual suspects, events like Picnic Day, the Mother Goose Parade, or Read Across America week. As you continue to chat, the students start sharing funny memories and reflecting on more of their day-to-day experiences: the routine schedules and cross-campus collaborations; their favorite class projects; the Spartan chants they learned in PE class; or what they were doing during last Friday’s big game. And that is where you start to realize how special this place really is. It is often said that traditions serve to keep us rooted. Starting with our littlest Spartans, we celebrate special traditions to reinforce to them what we as a school value most … a strong sense of community. When current Early Childhood parents first tour the Lower School, it is common for them to be surprised as they hear about the beloved traditions and impressive capstone projects taking place beyond the halls of the Early Childhood building. And while that may be something our marketing department needs to look into, more than anything it shows how fully immersed our families are in the traditions and experiences their kids are living at that moment. In Early Childhood it is easy to get swept up in the excitement of Kansas Day or Read and Romp. Everyone looks forward to the Mother Goose Parade, a favorite tradition that was started by legendary Early Childhood Librarian Jenny Paulseen and has stood the test of time. In fact, this tradition has been around for over thirty years and now it isn’t uncommon for

Current kindergartners in Mrs. Zarei’s class gather on the playground as they celebrate Kansas Day.

Members of the Class of 2028 enjoy the Dr. Seuss breakfast when they were in 1st Grade.

Members of the Class of 2024 perform their 4th Grade Musical Peter Pan Jr. alumni to talk about what THEY wore to the Mother Goose Parade as they watch their own little Humpty Dumptys and Miss Muffets walk around the Bunny Hill Quad. It is easy to feel like that building is where all the magic happens. Luckily for the kids, it doesn’t stop there. The students finish their time in Early Childhood and walk across the sidewalk to the Lower School, where they find themselves completely floored by their first Dr. Seuss Breakfast. The palpable excitement of the Thing Ones and Things Twos that take over the building make you wonder who opened the door and let in The Cat in the Hat. The first grade parent picnic and first grade plays help prepare the students for the second grade Salute to America. The kids don’t see this as work, though. To them, it is simply a rite of passage. The students look up to the kids in front of them as much as they look forward to the experiences they see coming. Ask most of our 1st or 2nd graders and they will already be able to tell you who they hope to be in the 3rd grade Wax Museum or what musical they want their 4th grade class to perform. The anticipation of these traditions is almost as fun as the traditions themselves. The traditions continue throughout Middle School and Upper School. The space missions, musicals, and the USO Dance. The Friday night game themes, Mentor Day, and the Good Life paper. For students who become Spartans after Lower School, these events are thrilling. Active, engaged learning is a breath of fresh air. For students that have been here for years, this is simply a continuation of all they have ever known. It is often said that comfort can be found in the familiar. Traditions are the best kind of familiar, and something that Wichita Collegiate offers in abundance. From the youngest Spartans to the oldest Spartans, we celebrate each tradition as its own milestone. Oftentimes traditions help to mark the passing of

Upper School Madgrigals get into the Turkey Tango at our annual Thanksgiving Concert.

time, but for so many Spartans, the shared traditions keep them young. You will see 2 year olds and 12 year olds both doing the Turkey Tango with fervor. A high school picnic buddy will happily do the cupcake walk ten times, and not just because it is what the preschool buddy wants to do. Our students spend years creating memories and sharing traditions with people both ahead of and behind them in

Collegiate’s greatest tradition isn’t any one particular event. Instead it is the consistent desire our faculty has to help each of our students become a meaningful part of a larger community.

school. However, despite everything just mentioned, Collegiate’s greatest tradition isn’t any one particular event. Instead it is the consistent desire our faculty has to help each of our students become a meaningful part of a larger community. At the end of the day, when you ask our students about their favorite traditions, it is the memories they made together and the relationships that came from them that truly stand the test of time.