At the beginning of the year, each class traditionally chooses a class name, which is like a mascot –an animal or other entity to represent the character, culture, and ideals of the class. When I was a child, I remember reading a tale about how Merlin would turn young King Aurthur into different animals so who could learn from them. From geese he learned about sharing the lead, from ants how to sense and how to work as a whole. There is much to learn from nature.
Students work in a democratic fashion in each class to consent to a mascot name, by proposing different mascots and stating the qualities that animal or being has or why they want to persuade the rest of the class to choose it.
The fifth grade class just chose The Honey Bees as their mascot, because honey bees work together like one organism, every individual works for the good of all, they take care of the environment, and they are highly intelligent in many ways. Grade 4 is embracing their class name as the Ravens. The ravenlike qualities they hope to embrace are being cooperative, intelligent, playful and agile in nature.
