Twice a day, we visit the Bremen St. Park here at Harbor City School.  We line up along a crack in the sidewalk, face the school, then hold hands to “make a caterpillar.”  We then inch along as we cross busy Bremen St., where the children all raise a hand and thank the traffic that has stopped for us.  Once we reach the park, we drop hands and walk in a regular line, but the kids know that The Caterpillar is an important way we follow our #1 Rule:  We take care of ourselves.

Many days one or more of the cars that has stopped for us honks a horn or rolls down a window to let us know just how adorable and well-behaved our students are.  Of course, this is not new information to Peter and me, but we love hearing it nonetheless.  This morning, as we returned from the park, who should stop at the crosswalk for us but a local firetruck!  Fortunately, the crew was not on their way to an emergency.  They smiled and waved at us as we crossed.  Suddenly, the children started shrieking and jumping for joy.  I looked back to the firetruck to see that the driver had turned on the lights for us!  Fearing that the siren would be too loud (I imagine), they then honked the horn for us as well!  As excited as they were, the Tugboats continued their Caterpillar walk across the street.  Once we reached the sidewalk, we all dropped hands, jumped up and down, and shouted a hearty “Thank you!” to the fire crew.  It may have been one of the most exciting adventures we’ve had yet at Harbor City School!

Perhaps there is a field trip to the local firehouse in our future?