The River of Life: Making an Impact

During the first week of school, English students in Mrs. McVicker’s classroom participated in a “River of Life” activity. They followed their teacher out to the sidewalk by the school where they were given a box full of irregularly shaped blocks of wood. Their task was a seemingly simple one: use these blocks to get from this starting point on the sidewalk to that slab of concrete (which was roughly several yards away). There were two simple rules were that all students must cross without stepping off a block, and if one participant fell off, everyone had to restart.

At first, a few took initiative and tried to cross the way alone, sliding blocks or making their own path, leaving the rest of the class without any blocks. The groups quickly realized that it’s true that teamwork makes the dream work and worked together using critical problem-solving skills to form a plan. Groups formed a line with each person handing up new blocks to the leader in front. The leader executed a new plan laying the blocks down to form a channel of wood where each and every student, after making a few adjustments for the betterment of the whole, made it across safely, however haphazard it seemed.

Even though it was a tedious task, the River of Life was truly an uplifting event and a great way to start the year! In every class, not one teammate was left behind; every single class member participated. Those who struggled to balance were showered with encouraging words from others, and they soon found that, even though it was the first week of class, new friends could be trusted to steady them and help them cross the goal-line.

This “River of Life” was filled with many takeaway experiences.