Learn|Grow|Blossom

I. LOVE. My. Job.

It is varied and I get to do some fun stuff that makes people happy and feel special.

Each year, the school I work at has a Back-to-School all staff meeting and luncheon. It's my job to do the decorations. Our principal made it easy for me - she chose Learn|Grow|Blossom as our theme for the 2010-11 school year. 

First came the creation of the logo I plan to use throughout the year. 

As it was the first day back for many of the teachers, I wanted them to come in to a colorful, vibrant environment. The meeting and luncheon was held in our very large Gathering Place, an open area with skylights that can seat 240 at banquet tables. 

The luncheon tables each had colorful tablecloths

red, blue, green, yellow

I used watering cans to carry through the garden theme.

Dirt Cake was the dessert!! I made it.

I used pails, dried flowers, WORMS, and a shovel to scoop

There were 4 tables with assigned seating so I decided to create a theme of official flowers that incorporation our location in Chicago, Illinois. We are a faith-based school with a Christian worldview so the official flower of the USA and representative of Jesus were used.

Official flower of Chicago: Chrysanthemum

Official flower of the State of Illinois: Violet

Official flower of the Unites States of America: Rose

Official flower representative of Jesus: Lily of the Valley

We wanted to give the teachers something tangible to keep for the school year, as a reminder that their classrooms are a 'garden' and the students are seeds planted in that garden to learn|grow|blossom.

I was thrilled when I scored these little pots that say 'Garden'

Sadly, I did not get a photo of all 4 colored tables with their decorations.

The work tables did not need table coverings.

I served fruit with a shovel scoop, had pails with flowering plants, flower napkins, and the markers to write their name tags was color coded as part of the theme. 

We have mints with our school logo on them so I put a tin on each table. Fresh breath is important during all day meetings! 

There were place cards with the learn|grow|blossom logo as we had assigned seating. Can't show first and last names on the blog. I can show you that we used real plants on the meeting tables. To add color and carry the theme from the colored tablecloths, I put the plants in colorful pails.

Meeting Table Flowering Plant

I did a simple beverage setup with bottled water and orange juice.

The blue bags are for a team building exercise. The lunch was served from where the bags had been.

We have a new company coming in to do hot lunches a couple days per week. I asked the company to cater our lunch so the teachers could see the portion sizes, taste the food, and ask the company owner questions so when parents ask them questions, they can answer with personal knowledge and experience. 

We actually had Mediterranean Chicken w/Tatziki but this is a sample meal

Reuse|Reduce|Recycle

The pre-kindergarten teacher wants to use the shovel and pail decorations for her classroom.

The important part of the whole day was that the teachers and staff felt appreciated, special, and thought of. There is energy and excitement going into the 2010-11 school year which has to be great for
our students.