Two groups of lower school students were treated to off-campus lunches with Joe Connolly, dean of students K-5, as part of  picnic auction packages. In late November, Grant Smith, Elvin Chen and Avery Young, all grade 2, headed to Shangri-La, a Chinese restaurant in Los Gatos, and in early December, Kristin Ivey, Ashli Jain and Pumpkin Mayer, all grade 4, enjoyed Pizza-My-Heart.

Connolly remarked on the differences between going to lunch with a group of boys and a group of girls.

“If the diners at Shangri-La were looking for a nice quiet lunch, they picked the wrong day,” said Connolly. “Three second grade boys can make a lot of noise at lunch time, especially in a very small restaurant. Many of the customers seemed to enjoy listening to the boys’ conversations, though. There were lots of smiles and laughs as the boys talked about ‘boy things.'”

While lunch with the girls was much quieter, Connolly said everyone talked about their plans for the upcoming holidays and what they hoped to receive for Christmas. He also praised the girls’ appetites. “We ate a lot of food!” said Connolly. “Those girls could really put it away!”

Loud or quiet, it’s clear that everyone involved had a wonderful time.