Robbie focused on reading the task. It had a detailed set of instructions. The group had to build a new decorative pond in the company’s back yard. They had to use technical plans provided to them and they had to do it in a time given. The deadline was three days after full moon. The new pond would then be unveiled during a company-wide garden party. There was a budget that they had to stick to as well, and a list of approved businesses they could shop with. Feeling ready Robbie looked up. Leila was also finished with her reading and Isla finished next. They waited another couple of minutes for Aariv to look up before Leila once again took charge.

“Okay, are we all ready?” everyone nodded. “Cool. So, Rob, what is the task?” Rob gave as detailed of a description as he could.

“Hmm, I see.” Leila looked thoughtful before glancing at the board. “So for our first question we are supposed to say why our characters would choose to hide certain things from others on their team. I’ll start. My person is a kitsune secretary Miss Melissa Foxx. A few years ago Melissa went through a bad breakup and she made a bad decision to drive while drunk. She hit a tree and got caught. Her driving license got taken away and now she cannot drive. She might want to hide it, because it’s embarrassing and she might not want others to know. Plus, kitsune are sometimes seen us tricksters and untrustworthy so if she told others, they might not trust her.”

“Okay, me next,” said Isla, “I had the werewolf labourer Mr Terry Wolfston. He might want to hide from others that he has some learning difficulties. One of those is dyscalculia, a learning disorder that means he has trouble understanding number-based information and maths. He also suffers from a rare disorder where he gets anxious and quite angry a few days before the full moon. He normally takes a few days off around that time or tries to take it easy at work to avoid stress as much as possible because stress triggers his symptoms. He might not want to tell anyone about it, because when he was younger he was bullied for both of these things and he is still very self-conscious about them.”

“Okay, what about your person, Aariv?” Leila took charge once again.

“Um, my guy is a kappa gardener called Mr Jim Shinto. He is in his sixties and suffers from asthma. He might not want tell anyone about it because he doesn’t want people to think about him as disabled. Also, he has previously been discriminated against by some local businesses due to him being a kappa, but he might not want to tell anyone because he is embarrassed.”

“Okay, that all makes sense. So question two: Why would it be good for the team if they revealed those things about themselves? Any ideas anyone?” Leila asked.

“I think with Mr Shinto it might be very important.” Robbie said frowning. “One,” he lifted up his thumb counting out the reasons, “if he has asthma and they start physical work on the pond, he might get sick and end up in a hospital, but if he tells them, they will make sure that he doesn’t overwork himself. Two,” he lifted up his pointer finger, “if he was discriminated against in some businesses, it could be some of the businesses on their list. They might want to avoid going there. They shouldn’t shop where people are so intolerant!” He scowled. He always got angry when he heard about people being stupid that way. There was no reason to be mean to someone you didn’t know based on their race or gender or something insignificant like that. It was stupid!

“Good point!” Leila nodded and smiled at him.

“Yeah!” Aariv nodded as well. “And I think with the werewolf guy, he should tell them about the mathsss thing. If they need to read plansss there will definitely be mathsss. What if he messssesss up? They need to know. Then they can help him with that.”

“Uhuh.” Isla was biting her pencil and looking into space. “And… and I think he needs to tell them about the… you know… the moon thing… cause he will be no good to anyone. And if he tells them, they can plan to have him off. Or try to finish it before then.”

“Yeah.” Leila paused and seemed to gather her thoughts. “And with the secretary she needs to tell them she can’t drive. She doesn’t need to tell them why if she doesn’t want to, but they need to know that she doesn’t have a driving license so she won’t be able to bring any supplies or anything like that.”

“Okay,” Robbie decided to read out the last question, he noticed Miss Cook hovering over them somewhere in the background, but she wasn’t interfering and they were really into the task, so he ignored it, “so question three: how does revealing these things make things better for everyone on the team in the future?” They were all quiet for a little bit after that. Finally Isla said something.

“Well, I suppose… they know each other better now?”

“Yeah…” Aariv agreed. “…and …and they can work better together now. Cause they know what they each can and cannot do.”

“Uhuh,” Isla nodded.

“So they recognise each other’s strengths and weaknesses and can cover for those.” Leila rephrased what the others had said.

“And I think…” Robbie started feeling something that was niggling at him. “I think they also… After working together, and… you know, telling each other those things… I think they can now also trust each other more?” He saw others nodding and smiled that they agreed with his assessment. Leila pulled out a piece of paper and started writing down their answers, so that they would remember everything that has been said. From the corner of his eye he saw Miss Cook drift away from their group.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

It was another couple of minutes before Miss Cook clapped again and told them to prepare to give their answers. Each group had a slightly different task and a slightly different set of characters. It was fun. Robbie drank in everyone’s analysis. All those different supernatural races with all their mundane as well as supernatural problems. It was fascinating! Finally it was their group’s turn and Leila read out their answers. Miss Cook agreed that they did well and their answers were correct.

“Okay, so tell me now, after that task, you saw that there were many reasons why people would want to blend in and pretend to be like everyone else, now, discuss in your groups: Can you think of any reasons why having people who were actually so very different from each other was beneficial for their project? What special skills or perspectives could they have brought to the task? Look back at the profiles of your people and try to find out. You will have ten minutes for this task.” She used the clicker and the questions on the board changed to the new ones. Robbie and his group went back to the task.

“So what special skills or perspectives could they bring to the task?” Leila read out the question, they each went looking through their person’s card.

“Oooh, I’ve got it!” Aariv exclaimed. “Mr Shinto knows a lot about feng-shui and the eastern tradition of koi ponds. He could teach others how to do it.”

“Hmm,” Isla was biting the back of her pencil again, “Mr Wolfston’s hobby to deal with the full-moon stress is actually a big water tank with all kinds of pretty fish and water plants. If he tells them all about it they could maybe use it in the project.”

“Oh, I found it as well.” Leila said pointing to something on her card. “Miss Foxx went to therapy after her accident. She started art therapy and got interested in painting. She knows a lot about how to arrange colours to the best effect. That could help with flowers and such.”

“Okay,” Rob nodded. “So we know what they each bring to the task. But why would having people who are so very different be beneficial for the project?” He furrowed his brow. This was a difficult question. He could see how they each had some good things to bring to the project of course… He looked around. The others in his group seemed as stumped as himself. He tried to think about it from a different angle. “Well, if they never told each other about any of it, and pretended to be the same…” He tried to feel his way around the question. “And if they still managed to finish the task…”

“I suppose they would still finish it.” Leila answered. “It was a company task after all. They could lose their jobs if they didn’t.”

“Yeah, but I bet they would all be very unhappy.” Aariv said. “Poor Mr Shinto would be tired, and maybe forced to buy from those stupid idiots who discriminated against him. And Mr Wolfston would be anxious and angry before the full moon.”

“Right!” Isla added, “And then, if they didn’t say anything about their special skills and interest then the pond would probably be just ‘meh’ when they finished it.”

“So, by working together and taking advantage of what makes them unique they can make their finished task so much better and maybe even get a recognition from the company at the end when they present it at the company garden party!” Rob finished.

“Well done!” Miss Cook had crept up on them while they weren’t looking and was now smiling at them with pride. “That’s a very good analysis!” Robbie felt warmth bloom in his chest and saw others smile at each other. It felt nice to be acknowledged.

The last part of the lesson showed other groups come to similar conclusion.

“I’m glad you all recognise now, how important diversity is.” Miss Cook was saying after each group presented their findings. “By taking advantage of what makes us unique it makes a group stronger. British values teach us how important it is to have mutual respect and to embrace diversity. It makes us stronger as a country. It makes us a place where everyone feels welcome. That is more so important in a community like Fulsham. There are so many different supernatural races living here and each of us have our quirks. Because of that you must always remember to be respectful of those different than you. They might be different but that doesn’t mean they are any less important.” Miss Cook had a very serious air around her as she gave that last bit of speech. She was the most serious Rob has seen her, yet. Then that moment passed and she smiled at them all brilliantly.

“Now, that was some wonderful work today, year eight! Congratulations! You can pack up now and line up in your rows. Once you’re all silent I will start letting you all out.”

Feeling the tension release, Rob smiled. It felt good. It had been a good lesson. He had learned more about diversity and more about some new supernatural races. He had not heard about a kappa or a kitsune before. He was going to add those to his secret notebook he had at home. He took notes about supernaturals there. It wasn’t for any nefarious reasons. He just wanted to learn as much about the supernatural world as possible. He was such a latecomer to it. He had a lot to catch up on.