On Friday, May 15, St. Mary of the Lakes School hosted its annual Grandparents/Special Persons Day. Grandparents came from far and wide to enjoy a morning of entertainment given by the students of St. Mary of the Lakes School. This tradition has continued at St. Mary of the Lakes School for more than 28 years.
This year’s theme was “A Nautical Adventure”. Each grade sang songs popular of a nautical theme through the years. Led by Ms. Sarah (Sally) Witkoski accompanied by Sr. Regina McCalla, SSJ, Kindergarten sang “Baby Beluga” and “Three Little Fish”, first grade entertained with “The Elegant Captain Hook”, second grade sang “A Pirate’s Life” and third grade belted out “A Whale of a Tale”. Under the direction of Ms. Witkoski, the SMLS School Choir entertained grandparents with “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid, fourth grade sang “Yo Ho A Pirate’s Life For Me” sporting pirate bandanas, grade five sang “Under the Sea”. Sixth grade sang “Octopus Garden”, and seventh and eighth grade sang “Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles.
Throughout the performances, the PTA stumped the grandparents with trivia questions and handed out prizes for correct answers.
Grandparents overflowed the auditorium and the balcony. They came from as close as Medford and from as far away as California. There were grandparents with their first grandchild in the school and there were grandparents who were coming for the 17th time to Grandparents Day. Also in attendance, Msgr. James Dubell, who attended his last Grandparents Day as Pastor of St Mary of the Lakes.
After the song performances, grandparents spent the rest of the morning visiting their grandchildren’s classrooms and viewing exhibits. In Kindergarten, grandparents were treated to songs and poems and the annual viewing of the baby chicks, ducks and butterflies. First grade performed two mini-plays and sang songs. Second grade presented their book reports and third grade sang songs and recited haiku poems (Japanese, 17 syllable poems) created for each of their grandparents. Fourth grade performed the “How I Became a Pirate” play and fifth grade conducted a sing-a-long of silly songs and interviewed their grandparents. Sixth grade wrote grandparent poems and seventh grade presented Science experiments and displayed their Math Games. Eighth grade memorized and performed speeches from history, famous scenes from movies and famous poems.
SML TV put on their daily broadcast, showed Student Service Announcements and interviewed some grandparents.
Finally the St Mary of the Lakes School Annual Art Show opened on Friday May 15and grandparents enjoyed viewing the student work from Kindergarten through Eighth grade. The Art Show is open until May 31.
Roseanne Giunta, the president of the PTA said “Every year, the students look forward to Grandparents Day and they work so hard to put on a great show for their grandparents. Grandparents also look forward to it and they put the date on the calendar in the beginning of the school year as soon as it is announced.” There was a sense of real joy throughout the halls of St Mary of the Lakes School and as it ended, students and grandparents were already looking forward to next year’s Grandparents/Special Persons Day.
