written by Holly Bell, Director of First Impressions
Happy Spring! I open doors. I open doors for people, mostly. I’ve been watching student traffic patterns more intently recently. And, I’ve asked many students: “What do you call a group of students?”. You know, you’ve heard of more common groups, like a gaggle of geese or a herd of cows. What about a pack of wolves or a flock of sheep? What would a group of students be called? A summary of students? A body of students? Think about what you’d call them as I share a list of some less common group names, some more appealing than others…
A prickle of porcupines
Murder of crows; Conspiracy of ravens; Skulk of foxes
Kettle of hawks; Barrel of monkeys (seriously!) or a Troop of monkeys; Tribe of goats
Zeal of zebras; Rafter of turkeys; Fluffle of bunnies
Colony of seagulls; Troop of baboons; Drove of donkeys
Herd of antelope; Smack of jellyfish; Loveliness of ladybugs
Snuggle of sloths; Cauldron of bats; Clan of hyenas
Raft of ducks; Bed of clams; Aggregation of manatees
Shrewdness of apes; Wake of buzzards; Mischief of magpies
Den of snakes; Team of horses; Army of ants
Herd of elephants; Bunch of deer (seriously.); Crash of rhinos
Prowl of jaguars; Confusion of wildebeest; Population of koalas
Blessing of narwhals; Array of hedgehogs; Caravan of camels
Congregation of crocodiles; Rockery of penguins; Pride of peacocks
Community of chimpanzees; Pod of dolphins; Flock of bluebirds
Roost of robins; Streak of tigers; Parliament of owls (perfect!)
Venue of vultures; Swarm of bees; Sloth of bears
Army of frogs; Tower of giraffes; Embarrassment of pandas
Bloat of hippos; Coalition of cheetahs; Pride of lions
Horde of gnats; Charm of goldfinches; Cloud of grasshoppers
Pandemonium of parrots; Romp of otters; Crash of rhinos
Brood of hens; Mob of kangaroos; Convocation of eagles
Gaze of raccoons; Rhumba of rattlesnakes; Shiver of sharks
Band of coyotes; Clowder of cats; Gang of elk
Leap of leopards; Plague of locust; Stream of minnows
Stench of skunks; Scurry of squirrels; Wisdom of wombats
Don’t you think that some of these names are a perfect representation of the group? How poetic! For some of them, you can see exactly how they got their group names - like a tower of giraffes. Exactly!
When I’m opening doors for students between classes, it gets so busy in the orange lobby that I think the group might be called a Crush of students. What do you think? Create your own name for a group of students and send your answers to me. Let’s compare. Thanks!
On we go,
Holly