On the second point I want to accentuate, and they're all excellent things we should consider, you say we have to make sure that we make this fun, “but also allow for [both] dignity and emotion: it is healthy to release the spirit through noise, through laughter, through tears and through awe.” That's the last point you make. I think it brings some clarity to the direction you would like to see us push towards as we do our planning.
I'm a former elementary school principal. Any time you really want to push something through with children, you have to make it fun, you have to make it engaging.
Now, did you put every activity you were doing as a central committee through a lens: is this going to be fun, is this going to be engaging? Was that something you used when you were evaluating your plans?