November 1, 2007

What a great month October has been. Yesterday afternoon our Halloween activities extended to the entire school for the first time and students, staff and community members really came out in force, dressed as literary characters from stories and books. It was a glorious afternoon and we paraded through the school and out to the soccer field. I was amazed at the creativity that went into some of the costumes. Here are some highlights for those of you who missed it.

First, I was delighted to see community members join us in their full regalia. We had Old Mother Hubbard and her dog (Bunzy Sherman) and Pocahontas (Barbara Seymour). Betsy Braunhut was the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, and we had Alice herself (Emily Mueller) and the Mad Hatter (Torri Robbins). Also represented were Paul Bunyan (Lisa Theoharidis), the goddess Hera (Peggy Zembrusky), and the Phantom of the Opera (Peter Dauk).

I was stunned to find out that the very convincing Cruella De Ville was Mary Rees Nutter, and at the total transformation of Arlene Roberts into the character Viola Swamp (from Miss Nelson is Missing)! Other characters included Burt Dow, Little Red Riding Hood, the Snow Queen, and many fairies, princesses, Spidermen, witches and pirates.

Special note should be made of some of Torri Robbins students who dressed as characters from the Dear America Books, based on the diaries and letters of girls who lived in different periods in American history. Kendall McGuffie’s eighth graders re-created Thomas the Tank Engine and should be applauded for their great team effort.

I really like the connection we’ve made to literary characters this year. Perhaps this will become an annual tradition!

Happy November,

Catherine Ring, Principal