“A Party!” Katie shrieked with excitement. “I love parties and I’m very good at planning them. We need streamers, a limbo pole, a piñata, some music and maybe even confetti.” “Whoa, slow down a bit Katie,” Miss Nell interrupted. “That’s not the kind of party I’m talking about.” “It isn’t?” Katie inquired. “No, our first class party is going to be a Halloween party.” Katie then shouted, “Costumes, that’s even better! I can tell everyone what to wear…” Miss Nell had to interrupt her again, “Katie, I know that you’re excited but everyone else is, too. Plus, I’m sure everyone will enjoy choosing their own costume.” Katie was a little disappointed but she knew that Miss Nell was right.

The remainder of Circle Time was spent talking about party preparations. Miss Nell was correct; everyone was excited and they all had a lot they wanted to say, even Aleisha. The class decided that they definitely wanted to wear costumes and they wanted Miss Nell to try to guess who is who. They also said ‘yes’ to the streamers and to some games and food but ‘no’ to the limbo and the piñata.

Everyone but Miranda was excited. All of the other kids were chattering about what kind of costume they would wear. Miranda didn’t say anything. She didn’t know if she was even going to be allowed to attend because her family didn’t celebrate Halloween.

Miranda was quiet at home and her mom noticed and asked her if something was wrong. Miranda started to cry as she said, “There’s a party at school and I can’t go!” “You can’t? Why not?” her mom asked. “It’s a Halloween party!” Miranda wailed. Her mom gave her a big hug and wiped her eyes and asked, “Who said you can’t go?” “Nobody, it’s just that we don’t celebrate Halloween.” “You’re right we don’t,” her mom answered slowly. “Do you know what you will be doing at the party?” Miranda answered, “Yes, we decided to eat treats and dress up in costumes.” “Well, that sounds harmless,” her mom said trying to cheer her up. For the first time that day, Miranda found herself getting excited about the party as she asked, “Does that mean I can go?” Her mom said, “Yes!” Miranda hugged her and said, “Thank you, Mommy! I can’t wait! It’s going to be so much fun!” But Miranda’s smile was quickly replaced with a look of concern and she wailed “What am I going to wear? I don’t have a costume!” Her mom said, “I know, what if you got dressed up like a character from the Bible?” “Ooh, that’s a good idea! But who should I be?” “You like princess things. What do you think of being Queen Esther?” “I love it!” Miranda shouted and she gave her mom another hug. Then they sat down and wrote up a list of all of the things they would need.

The next few days were very busy for everyone and not just at school but at home also; everyone was getting ready for the party. They couldn’t wait. Finally, the day of the party arrived. Everyone had a hard time getting on the bus because they had a lot of extra things to carry. Some had bags of treats in their backpack as well as a bag for their costume.

After they arrived at school, they sat on the rug like they always do as Miss Nell tried to give them instructions. They all had a really hard time sitting still; they were so excited! Katie yelled, “Ouch, you stepped on my hand!” Brian yelled right back, “I didn’t mean to!” “Okay, everyone we need to calm down and remember to use nice words. I know that you are all excited but we can’t start the party until I’ve told you everything.” That was all the incentive that they needed and everyone did a much better job of sitting still. That is, until the parent helpers started to arrive. Most of the parents were carrying bags or trays and the children knew that all of it was yummy treats for them to eat. Miss Nell had to practically shout when she told them that she was leaving the room and that the parents would help them put on their costumes.

They weren’t quite sure that it was safe to start dressing. No one wanted Miss Nell to see what they were wearing. Each one wanted to be the last to be picked. Once they were convinced that they could start, the parents found out that they had their work cut out for them. It was hard enough getting costumes over top of clothes let alone the fact that the children wouldn’t stand still. Just when one child was ready someone else needed something reattached or refastened. “Mom, my crown came off again,” Miranda complained to her mother. “Okay, just a minute, I’m helping someone else right now.” Miranda sighed, “All right.” Finally they were ready and Miss Nell was allowed to come back into the classroom.

They were all back on the Circle Time rug, although they were careful not to sit in their regular spots. They didn’t want Miss Nell to be able to guess who they were and they thought that switching seats may trick her. “Where are all of my students? Who are all these strangers?” Miss Nell exclaimed when she walked onto the rug. Everyone tried not to giggle; they knew if they did, they would give themselves away.

Miss Nell walked carefully around looking closely at each child. When Miss Nell got to her, Katie just couldn’t help herself and she started to giggle. Miss Nell said, “Ah ha, there is a familiar voice and it belongs to Katie!” “You found me,” Katie said as she took off her mask. Miss Nell began to guess others, some she got right but with others she needed more than one guess. At one point she said, “What a clever class I have!” Finally, there were only two students left on the rug. One was a queen and the other one was a super hero. Miss Nell said, “Okay, I think I can figure this out. There is one boy and one girl that I haven’t guessed yet.” She then pointed to the queen and said, “You must be Tyler.” Everyone started shrieking and laughing and crying out, “Miss Nell!” Tyler said, “You’re wrong! I’m the super hero!” He then immediately said, “Oh man,” because he knew that since he had talked, that he was out of the game. Miss Nell was laughing with everyone else and she said, “Tyler, I knew you weren’t the queen!”

Miranda stood very silently. Miss Nell looked at her and said, “Miranda, you won!” Only then did Miranda say, “I’m the last one! I’m the last one picked!” “You sure are!” Miss Nell told her. “And that means that you get to be first in line at the treat table.” “Yea,” Miranda cheered as she went to get in line. “Mom,” she yelled. “Are you surprised that I was the last one picked?” “What’s surprising is that you could go that long without talking!” her mom teased her.

The fun continued as they all ate as many snacks as they were allowed. And playing games was more fun then doing school work. Before they knew it, it was time to go home. Brian summed up their thoughts the best when, at the end of the day, he said, “I didn’t know you could have this much fun at school!”