"It’s showcase time!" I exclaim at morning meeting, about 4 weeks out from the main event itself.
 
"Woooo!!!" Cheers groups of students, young and old, and immediate chatter starts to take hold of the group.

All 64 of them all Via Vita students, sitting on the floor, with young ones settled into the laps of older ones, get louder with the vibes of showcase running throughout the room. Normally, morning meeting is a time to discuss things to change, the going's on of day-to-day events. Today, we've all come together to start our day and the first topic is showcase, which quickly takes hold of the entire agenda. The daily meetings are led by 2 students, who are now clapping rhythms trying to get the group back in order and quiet down. Vibes of excitement, anticipation, worry, and then getting-to-business waves over the crowd as they go through the emotions of preparing for such a big event as Showcase. New students unsure of what it all means. Old students grinning ear to ear, knowing exactly what it means. 
 
A few rounds of repeating the pattern claps from the morning's leading students and finally the mass of the group settles down into low whispers and then finally quiet, while a few hands shoot up in the air.
 
“When is it? We have to write the script?”
“Can I sign up to act, please? Oh! And dance? How many things can I sign up for?”
“I want to babysit this time!”
“Remember last year’s? Can we do that again? That was so much fun!”
 
My absolute favourite time of year. An excellent example of controlled chaos, student-led learning, and infused creativity. Showcase season. The time of year when we bring all of the themes and most influential things we’ve been learning about all term and pull it together into an on-stage production. Songs, dances, skits, poems, stories, science shows – you name it, we include it. Written with the students’ guiding ideas, produced with the support of their teachers edging them along. It’s always completely unique and entirely theirs. Can we include a boat? Why not, if it makes sense! Can we include that story we loved reading over and over in class? Sure, let’s figure out a way. Can we include aliens? Spaceships? Zombies? I’m sure we can find a way to make sense of that, right?
 
Is it stressful? Heck, yes. Without a doubt. We willingly walk into the chaos and make more chaos. It’s messy, it’s challenging, it’s ever-changing. Our newest teachers are looking at us like we’ve lost it. Our oldest teachers just keep saying – trust the process, you’ll see. 
 
See what, they ask? The payoff. The reason for it all. The moment when you see a child, who perhaps is struggling to keep their head up in math lately, or who has been chatting with us a lot lately about the woes of their changing social dynamics, or perhaps a student who has been having a difficult time smiling through the cold winter months, or a child frustrated with the complexity of reading the English language – you see them, beaming. Perhaps on stage, perhaps leading the younger ones, perhaps handling the mic system, perhaps keeping order back stage. It doesn’t matter the role, but it does matter that they are beaming. This is the reason for it all. For all the rehearsing and script writing, for all the prop making and mess cleaning. It’s also the reason for all the prep work, tests, quizzes, due dates, projects, parent meetings, staff meetings, schedules and classes. And it’s even the reason for the record keeping, payment collecting; accounting, upkeep and marketing of the business. This is the why. 
 
That child is beaming. 
 
Look at them. Look at what they’ve accomplished and look at how they feel about it. Can you compare anything else to it? This moment will move mountains. It’ll build confidence, and positive memories with school. It’ll help them believe in themselves, work with others, and never back down from a challenge.  It builds grit, integrity, and independence. It's an opportunity to work through stress, cope with fear, and manage challenges. It’s real, hands-on, experiential learning. It’s hard work, no doubt, but it’s the reason Via Vita exists. 
 
February 2020 marks 4 years since Via Vita Academy Ltd. became a thing and marks the 10th Showcase production with our students. We embarked on an adventure we had only dreamed of, with hopes in our heads and hearts for what Via Vita could be. Make a positive difference in the lives of our students. As a teacher, Via Vita is most certainly a dream come true.