Kenneth Davis Elementary School students experience a popular children's story as campus is transformed into fictional train.
On Tuesday, December 18, over 700 students sat in the hallways of Davis Elementary and listened to a reader's theater version of The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg over the P.A. system. The readers included district and campus administrators and staff. Hallways were decorated with student art based on the book and then lit with string lights for the morning event. The students sat in the hallways as their teachers held copies of the book for them to see while the story was read.
This day was really three years in the making. Robin Shipman and Aaron Preston put their heads together and with the help of the staff at Davis were able to put on this extravaganza.
“We wanted to create memories for the children as well as make these last days before winter break learning days,” says Shipman. “We succeeded with both.”
The guest readers consisted of Dr. Claude Cunningham, Dr. Sarah Jandrucko, Susie De Frank, Joe Glover and the office staff at Davis. The conductors that punched the tickets were Charles Stone, Aaron Preston, and Tim Wadley. Tammy Smith and Syd Askew were behind the scenes support.
The educational points were made through readers theater, graphing activities, reading, geography, writing, similes, vocabulary, and ordering events to name a few of the activities. The students designed the scenery to be seen from the hallway train. The hot chocolate and the one silver bell delivered by Santa to each child was the final layer to add authenticity to the make-believe adventure.
See the Photo Gallery from this campus-wide extravaganza.
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