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| How Celebrity Status Has Elevated One Student to the Top |
“King Peter, we love you,” the children chanted. Celebrities have it hard—or not at all—as Peter Lisle, President-elect of the School, learned when he visited the Pre-K. He’s a star! The Pre-Kers first saw Peter at the All-School Assembly where he was introduced by Elizabeth Ralph, the outgoing President of the School. She presented him with a crown and robe and wished him good luck. The kids loved it. From that brief moment of introduction Peter became a celebrity.
Since then, the Pre-K has been engaged in email interchanges with Peter with the help of their teacher, Mrs. Redding. They have not hesitated to ask Peter for some capital changes for the school. Mrs. Redding thought, “Why not have him come to the Lower School in person to discuss it. So, she invited him to visit the Pre-K class in Howland House. With guitar in hand and his crown on his head, he
arrived to the delight of the class. “It’s King Peter,” then there was a moment of reverent silence, evidently unprecedented for that class. Peter, or King Peter, read two books, one of which was about acorns growing into oak trees. The other was about how all animals go the bathroom, a book that is one of Peter’s favorites, which certainly appealed to the class. He played the guitar and sang a song, answered many questions, and posed for photos.
When the topic of the capital changes came up, he said he would consider all requests, including the following: Robbie wants a basketball court; Lucy wants a Barbie House; Ethan N, Roger, Ruby, and Ethan K all want a swimming pool with a water slide, diving board, and an arcade. Henry and Lucy want a rainbow roller coaster; Audrey would like a motorcycle; and Matt wants bicycles.
Clearly, this is a pretty tall order, but Peter seemed confident in saying that the moonbounce they want will happen on Super Saturday. Of course, the Pre-K had other questions, too. How did you become President? What do you like about the job? What have you learned in your job? Peter answered candidly that he liked meeting people, that he has learned that being nice to people is important, and that he will have to give a lot of speeches.
After the visit the kids were pretty excited. Just as in the story that Peter read about little acorns growing into big trees, and in the tradition of the closing All-School Assembly, when the acorns give the mighty oaks their diplomas, the big kids aren’t so scary even if they are big and tall and they have a lot of responsibility. And it’s definitely pretty special to meet one up close and personal.
Posted on May 3, 2006
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