Welcome to the Chets Kitchen!

Teachers returned to school today. It's always difficult to get up when that alarm rings so early, but at Chets Creek teachers can always look forward to a fun first day back, so it makes the wee early hours a little less painful. This year was no different. Teams had met and prepared during the summer, so they started the morning with skits - cute, funny, irreverent! The teachers then voted on the best skit and for the second year in a row my first grade teammates won the round! They are quite a group!

There were plenty of prizes to go around. This year prizes included theme-based bulletin board border and sets, cooking utensils for the classrooms, and even registration for a Lucy Calkins event! We played other games throughout the morning including guessing spices, trivia about foods and dividing into groups by the recipe type we each brought with us.

All these games are designed to get us involved in the theme but also to build camaraderie. After each game the Principal asked the team leader to share her noticings about how the group worked together - making each of us aware that we were part of a team. We had two guests chefs that talked to us about their secrets to success and whipped up a little taste of something special.

The morning was capped off by having each team make pizzas with quite an array of ingredients. We also decorated over-sized sugar cookies and a pizza box to represent our grade level.

Thrown in between the fun and games were data from last year's testing, goals for the year, and a sprinkling of inspiration. I don't know how other principals welcome their teachers back on the first day but there is no question that Susan Phillips, Chief Chef at the Creek, has the recipe for success!