Field Day-Book Buddy Event-Learning Buddy Event

Sharon Poulin remembered, “Field Day was quite a spectacular event.” It was held the next to last day of school. We would all gather in one spot with the purpose of running relays but mostly, it just seemed a chance to scream with delight. The events varied year to year. There were some traditional ones such as running or sack races, but many times the events were created to celebrate a theme of the year. One year, when Elaine Hawthorne retired, everything was organized around the theme of recycling, a program she had helped to create in the school.

The PE teachers would organize the event by setting up the relays and then the classroom teachers would have the children sign up for at least one relay. There was a variety to chose from, some less physical than others. Though it was not suppose to be competitive, of course it was and It got to be very chaotic. As Sharon Poulin, third grade teacher remembered, “The classes seated around the event area kept moving in, pushing in the boundary/tape markers to get up close to the competition,” and those not participating in a particular event sometimes had problems sitting with the class! “In the end, it was worth it; we all had ice pops for a treat,” Sharon remembered.

In time, the end-of-year all-school event became a final Book Buddy event, run by the Specials. One year the whole school made kites. Another everyone made fairy houses, first finding pieces in nature and then building them along the walkway. They were wonderful creations, but difficult to clean up afterwards! One year we wrapped the front of the school in poetry. Book Buddies met in a classroom and each pair came up with a three line poem which they then wrote on huge paper that was attached to the front of the school. Another year, half the school played kickball while the other half danced. And, one year we tried an old fashioned field day where book buddy classes came out and rotated through six different events.

A couple years, one of the events was the creation of a chalk mural on the green top It was based on a theme, like the ocean, and always turned out to be quite a creation. As always, the morning ended with all quietly eating the first Popsicle of the summer.