Our first Family Teams activity of the year is traditionally a School-Wide Pumpkin Carving event. Although it is a much anticipated and exciting event, for some, it can be overwhelming, as students do not sit with their regular classes and teachers, but gather in multi-age teams in the gym and sit with peers who may not be familiar to them.

To support students in feeling more comfortable and connected with their Family Team members, we organized a pre-Halloween Family Teams event with a goal of meeting all the members of their team and learning a bit about each student. The teams created circles throughout the gym so that all members of each team felt welcome and included. The student leaders received instructions on how to play a couple of "getting to know you" games and took the lead with their groups during the activity.

We observed lots of student engagement and great participation from all during the introductory activity! It also helped make our School-Wide Pumpking Carving event a success as well!