Once a month, grades one and five gather for a lunchtime discussion followed by a group activity. Each group consists of at least one grade five mentor and around five grade one students. During lunch, the older students lead a discussion based on the Lower School’s current monthly value.

For example, students might meet to discuss gratitude. The mentors ask their mentees questions such as, “What is Gratitude?” “What are you grateful for?” “Can a person be grateful for things that make them sad or are difficult?” “How do you practice gratitude?”

Following their lunchtime discussion, the might head out to the turf field for a team-based gratitude nature scavenger hunt. Each group uses a checklist of items to look for in nature that among others might:

• Make you smile
• Make a friend happy
• Smell lovely
• Feel soft to the touch
• Be fun to climb on
• Be the perfect resting spot

“I really like being in a mentoring program because it’s fun to help the younger kids learn. My mentees are really nice,” said Katherine A. ’30. This monthly mentoring opportunity prepares these grade five students for the leadership they will demonstrate the next year as grade six role models at the helm of the Lower School.