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2 schools mix it up at a joint field day
Photo
A C.H. Campbell 4th grader hula hoops during end of year field day Tuesday at Canfield High School. Students from C.H. Campbell and Hilltop participated in the event.
By Jon Moffett
The students participated in activities and games to become acquainted.
CANFIELD — Nearly 500 fourth-grade students filed into the bleachers of Canfield High School’s football stadium for a group picture.
Though they came from two elementary schools, they all held up their index fingers and cheered as one.
Students from C.H. Campbell and Hilltop Elementary schools participated in a joint field day at the high school Tuesday. The event was designed to help familiarize kids from the schools before they move on to Canfield Village Middle School in the fall.
Kent Polen, C.H. Campbell principal, said the day was to promote camaraderie among students.
“This is an opportunity for the students to get together with their friends at Hilltop and also make new friends before they head off to the middle school,” Polen said. “Going to a new school is always hard, but this way, when they walk into a classroom, they’ll see familiar faces.”
Some of the faces were already familiar, but some were meeting for the first time. The students were divided into five groups and partnered with a kid from the other school within those groups.
“We’re going to be one school as we head into the middle school,” said Cathy Mowry, principal of Hilltop. “So today it’s all about friendship, sportsmanship and teamwork.”
Mowry, who is finishing her first year at Hilltop, was a former assistant principal at the middle school and understands why such friendships are important.
“These students are going to be in the same classes, eat lunch together and see each other in the hallways,” she said.
The students participated in various activities including hula hoops, jump ropes, horseshoes, beanbag tosses and an inflatable obstacle course. Aside from the obstacle course, students were not directly competing with one another. Polen said a noncompetitive atmosphere was important so the students felt united instead of divided.
The students had various viewpoints on the day. Many said it was good to make new friends, while others viewed it as a free day.
Carmen Zena, 10, a student at C.H. Campbell, said he was using the field day as a chance to meet kids who will be his new classmates in the fall.
“We need to get along with new friends because maybe they’ll help us around the school next year,” he said. He also said some of the students will be his teammates when he plays sports for the middle school.
Ava Dasari, 9, a student at Hilltop, said she was talking to many Campbell students because she wanted to have even more friends next year.
Hilltop student Ava Buresak said she’s most excited about wearing flip-flops to school. “I can’t wait to wear them in the halls,” she said.
Lexie Stillwagon, 9, a student at Hilltop, said she looks forward to switching classrooms during the day. Campbell student Cecilia Chaer, 9, said she looks forward to being able to “walk around the hallways with no teachers following you.”
Mowry said it was a successful day and that many of the students will remember the fun and carry it over into fifth grade.
“When you have 500 children come together, and it’s all about smiles, it’s a great day,” she said.