November 2, 2017
by Mark Segal, Upper School Director
It is hard to believe that the annual MPA Halloween Parade is the culmination of months of planning and preparation. At some point early this past summer, my fourth-grade son, Logan, began to share with me how much he enjoys Halloween. An ardent Minnesota Vikings fan, he began to think about his costume and figured out a way to meld together his favorite Vikings player (Harrison Smith) and the Vikings mascot, Viktor the Viking. It is not about the candy, he would later share, but rather about the fun costumes that students get to wear and the high-fives he receives from the “older kids” as he follows the parade route through the building.
The all-school celebration of Halloween is one of the many school wide traditions that younger students get to share with older students at MPA. Mounds Park Academy is the only independent school in the Twin Cities that offers a PreK through 12 educational and community experience under one roof. I appreciate when prospective parents ask if being in an environment of mixed-age students is beneficial. I get to share that MPA wholeheartedly knows it is and explain the many ways in which this is the case. Being in a mixed-age community allows our students to be their best selves. Our Lower School students utilize their greatest communication skills and lessons learned from the CHAMP character education program in their interactions with older students and emulate their respectful, inclusive behavior. Our Upper School students respond appropriately to the fact that they are being carefully watched by the younger students and relish opportunities to act more child-like while still modeling appropriate behavior. And those in the middle? They find great joy and meaning through interacting with their younger friends as they look ahead to becoming campus-wide leaders as older students.
Each fall I have the great opportunity to, along with Dr. Hudson, eat lunch with the senior class in small groups. This is a way for me to get to know the class in more intimate settings and to get a sense of what has been meaningful to them as they embark on their last year as a student at Mounds Park Academy. The conversation usually starts with some small talk and students sharing information about what colleges they are exploring. It, however, then turns into a “walk down memory lane” for the students—even for those who joined the MPA community later in their academic careers. The students are asked to share their “MPA moment.” It is wonderful to listen to the 17 and 18 year olds as they passionately share their memories of working with first grade students on a service-learning project that resulted in a successful community-wide Blood Drive, volunteering to assist to work with Middle School students on costumes for their drama production (this year it is “Peter Pan”), or being matched up quarterly for the Pairing Assemblies where they play games, do puzzles, and venture outside to build relationships.
It was hard to not have a huge smile on my face as Logan passed by me during the Halloween Parade. His costume turned out just as he envisioned and even though he was one of the last Lower School students to march along the route, the older students clapped enthusiastically and supported his classmates and him as they proudly represented the Lower School for their last Halloween parade. This is just one of the many moments that makes me appreciate having a PreK through 12 community under one roof.
