Sacred Heart's Surprise Day Off Began With a Limbo Exit

A school could announce a day off and let everyone walk to the door. Somebody decided that good news deserved a more interesting use of the spine.

The Student Council organized it, which means that for some stretch of time beforehand, a small group of teenagers walked the halls of the school knowing the one thing every one of their friends wanted to know, and said nothing. The report also lists the plans for the rest of the day, among them a scavenger hunt and music videos.

I have tried to keep a surprise from my children exactly once, a trip to an amusement park, and lasted until breakfast. The middle one noticed I had made sandwiches. Nobody in our house makes sandwiches unless something is happening.

The school is serious about the opposite skill, too. Public speaking is taught from kindergarten up: organizing ideas and content, expression, engaging and persuading an audience, with an optional speech and forensics program in the Upper School.

So the girls learn, for years, how to stand up and say things clearly to a room. And then, one morning a year, a few of them don't say anything for weeks, and the rest of the school goes under a pole. That is a complete education in public communication: when to speak, and when to keep the inflatable fish hidden.

We held our own Congé last spring. I announced it at breakfast: no chores, no homework, a surprise day. I had prepared beach balls. I had not prepared a limbo pole, so I used a broom, held by the youngest at a height of her choosing. She chose low. The eldest declined to participate. The middle one went under, then held the broom for me, and lowered it two inches while I was halfway through. I am told it was the best part of the day. I was on the floor for most of it.