43
Hilltop first-graders welcome grandparents
Photo
Hilltop Elementary School first-grade student Ben Slanker showed his grandparents Judy and George McKee his desk in his classroom during the school’s annual Grandparents Day March 21.
Photo
Hilltop Elementary School first-grader Elisabeth Facemyer showed her grandparents, left to right, Barbara and John Facemyer and Bill Patch, her classroom during the school’s annual Grandparents Day March 21.
Photo
Hilltop Elementary School first-grader Jameson Beck celebrated the school’s annual Grandparents Day with his Grandma Annie.
Photo
Hilltop Elementary School first-graders performed their Grandparents Day program March 21. The students invited their grandparents to the school for the program and a visit to the classrooms.
By ABBY SLANKER
A hush fell over the multi-purpose room at Hilltop Elementary School as the crowd anxiously awaited the arrival of the stars of the show.
The crowd was composed of eager grandparents and the stars of the show were the school’s first-grade students. The grandparents were visiting the school in honor of Grandparents Day March 21.
As the first-grade students entered the gym, the grandparents twisted in their seats and stood up to get a glimpse of that special someone they were there to see. Returning the excitement, the first-grade students strained to see where their special visitors were sitting and broke into smiles when they spotted their special guests.
In welcoming the grandparents to their special day, Hilltop Elementary School Principal Cathy Mowry explained she had recently visited her grandchild’s school as a grandma and she knew the excitement they were feeling.
“As a grandparent, this day just doesn’t get any better. We have watched your grandchildren grow since they were in kindergarten. They are your treasures and we make them our treasures here at school. We know how special they are to their grandmas and grandpas,” Mowry said.
The children broke out into small groups, class by class, to perform songs with movement, including dancing, hand clapping and skipping.
With an introduction of the history of the songs which celebrated several places around the globe, the students sang the sea shanty of the Pacific Ocean “John Kanaka;” the traditional coastal Irish song “Rig a Jig Jig;” “Draw a Bucket of Water” from the Georgia Sea Islands and “Circle Round the Zero” from the streets and playgrounds of the inner city.
Tom Scurich asked the grandparents to join the children in a canon of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”
“That was pretty good, but let’s do it again with feeling,” Scurich said.
The students received a standing ovation from their very special audience after concluding the program with “God Bless America.”
After the program, the students led their guests of honor to their classrooms and introduced them to their teacher, showed them their desk and presented them with a drawing as a souvenir of the day.