Written by
Beth Farrah, SMT Writer
Essex, Missouri – With summer break just days away, the elementary students at Richland have prepared themselves for the summer fun by attending many of the MAP testing award pizza and movie parties. But yesterday (Wednesday, May 15th), the students found themselves outside on the playground for most of the day while they celebrated the end to their school year at their annual Play Day celebration.
Play Day has been an annual event at Richland Elementary for many, many years. Each year, the Richland PTO hosts a day of fun activities, both indoors and outdoors, many snacks and treats, and even barbeque sandwiches for lunch.
This year, the students got to play Minute to Win It games from the hit television show outside. The weather was great for the classes to go outside and enjoy the day. When they weren’t playing basketball or jumping in the bounce house, they could cool off by playing a new game in the small swimming pools or eat a snow cone.
The students also got to enjoy arts and crafts indoors, where the younger kids created necklaces, bracelets, and key chains out of string and beads and the older kids learned how to weave paracord bracelets. They also got to enjoy a small science experiment, where they learned about density and buoyancy. The staff members also helped them create homemade ‘Moon Sand’ that stayed fresh like Play-Dough so the students could take it home.
The students enjoyed freshly made cotton candy, a variety of different snow cone flavors, and hamburgers fresh off the grill made by their superintendent, Frank Killian. When their busy schedule of activities was finished, they settled down and watched a new movie to end their day.
The Richland PTO did a fantastic job and they worked very hard to make it run as smoothly as it did. The teachers and students are both very thankful to have parents as dedicated as they are. The organization has been holding fundraisers all year long to help fund their many activities at both the high school and elementary school.
A large number of the high school Beta Club members also participated and helped manage the large number of kids that participated in Play Day. The members helped run each station and had a busy day just like the elementary students.
At the end of the day, it seemed like everyone had fun, including the students, helpers, parents, teachers, and PTO members.
