Red Ball

Whoever finds the red ball is in charge of the next special project in the class. The projects can go from putting together a play, making an experiment or organising a sports event.

The idea

-Mamá!! Look what I found today in school!

-Tomasito, what did you find?

-The red ball!!!

-I see. Mario, it's your turn!!

— Tomás and Camila Martinez

Several seasons ago, one clever teacher came up with a brilliant idea. Their goal was to make the parents more involved with the education of their children. They thought the best way was to do one special project for all the students between the teacher, one student and their family.

This teacher presented the idea to their colleagues, and everyone liked it. The problem was how to choose the family in charge of the project. Another one of the teachers suggested the chosen the student randomly. One small red ball was one of the favourite toys among the kids. They decided that they would hide the toy, and whoever found it will lead a special project.

Now the parents fear the red ball because it means a lot of extra hard work, more awake hours, and one excited super kid bouncing around with wild ideas and a lot more meetings with the teacher. Sometimes, depending on the project, the parent or caretaker can ask to reduce their time in other of their allotted tasks to work on whatever their kid and the teacher want to do.

Even if the adults complain, and often are overworked they haven't asked to stop the appearance of the red ball or the idea of special projects. One of the reasons, is in part because this happens a few times in the year, and even with the random element, in some way, no family has to occupy their time with a special project more than once a year. But most important is this red ball and what it means to make the kids happy and the entire community. They just wished it wasn't so much work.

Item type

Toy

Dear family:

I imagine Tomás had already shown you he found the red ball. I'm happy to inform you that on this occasion Tomás decided with his classmates that they want to organise a race with their Super Fast Racing Machines. They also want food. I'll look forward to collaborating with you on putting together this event. I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun.