Introduction

It seems like a regular school day in dreary, late November but as soon as the visitor walks through the front doors of Halifax Independent School in the mid-morning, she is aware of the muted buzz of excitement that seems to emanate from the very walls of the building. Two 4 year olds burst from a classroom and begin a charge down the hall until they are aware of the visitor in the lobby, whereupon they slow to a suppressed run and approach the front desk, hand-in-hand and bursting with importance.

“Valerie, we have a message for you” and they hand her a piece of paper. Valerie, seated at the front desk,  helps the children read the note out loud, “Please give us 2 sheets of red paper” and goes to fetch the paper from the storeroom. She gives it to the children, and they begin walking sedately back to their class.

From above, the sounds of children singing emanate from the music room, and across the hall tables and benches in the lunchroom are being moved to create an open space. The “Work-a-ma-jig”, a kinetic sculpture designed and made by all the students in the school a few years before, is lit up and ready for action. Walking down the hall, the visitor sees glass doors covered with cloth and signs saying “No Pirnts Aloud”. This is no ordinary day at Halifax Independent – it is Fair Day!

In the late morning, parents of the four year olds – “the Littles” will begin arriving for their Fair presentation, and throughout the afternoon each class will treat their parents and other interested people to a presentation about the “theme” they have been studying for the past 2 months.

Let’s take a walk around and visit these presentations; Fair is the culmination of the children’s research, the showcasing of their knowledge and skills and a chance for them to hone their presentation skills.

We’ll start in the lunchroom with the Littles who are seated in a row on two benches with pirate hats on, and who sing an action song before getting up and going to fetch their own parents. Taking them by the hand, each child leads their willing parents into the classroom which has been transformed into the various levels of the ocean – one corner represents the intertidal zone, another the depths etc. The parents gather around their children, who are in groups of two or three, intently listening to them talk one by one about the sea creature that they have fashioned out of papier mache, occasionally asking them a question or two. The children proudly show them the paintings they have done, the writing on the labels and signs, the sketches and brainstorms that have been part of their "study". In a few minutes, at a signal from the teacher, the parents move on to hear another group.

Moving along the hallway, we visit a middles class in which one whole corner has been built up into a “rocky” ledge around which various little tide pool animals are perched (the giggles let us know that these are in fact children). Two  girls with a papier mache microphone enter and begin  to interview the creatures, who stand up and one by one tell the enraptured audience all about their unique habits and characteristics. A song with original words written by the children finishes up the formal presentation, whereupon the parents are invited to view the exhibits of research booklets, models and artwork. In another Middles class, a teacher plays the role of very careless boater while students point out all the environmental mistakes she is making while telling the audience why it is a problem and what we can all do about it.

Upstairs, the Olds are engaging parents in a spirited game of “Are you smarter than an Old?” with the MC firing off obscure facts about oceans and then asking “Believe it?” or “Believe it not?”. Naturally the Olds win handily. Thereupon, the students talk about the research they did preparing to write historical “novels” about a child emigrating by sea to Canada from various parts of the world and read selected passages from their self-published books. A beautiful map of the classical world with scenes from Homer’s Odyssey painted by the children with the help of a mural artist adorns the walls, as do other framed art works. Later, the parents are invited to buy their children’s books, with the proceeds donated to the Ecology Action Centre to help with their campaign to set up and maintain Marine Protected Areas.

In the Elders, children dressed as various adult “types” are attending a public meeting to discuss the fate of an area of shoreline which is under threat from development. A large model of the wetland, labelled with the various habitats, is in the centre of the room. Everyone gets their say: environmentalists, the developer, contractors, residents; even  the various creatures native to the area make presentations. In the end, the group votes to preserve the area.

The visitor overhears a parent say, "Wow, he's only 6 and he's using words like 'bathypelagic'!"    As she mills about listening to the parents’ comments, seeing the proud glow on children’s faces, viewing the artistically presented displays and listening in on little “experts” answering complex questions on their areas of expertise, she wonders, “How did all this happen? Why?”