The weather could not have been more beautiful. Under brilliant blue skies and a perfect breeze, grandparents and special friends from all around the world arrived at the Short Hills campus to spend the day learning about the academic activities of the Lower School students.
Beginning with a gathering in the dining room, complete with coffee and a continental-style breakfast, more than 300 grandparents and special friends were welcomed by Ted Corvino, assistant headmaster and Lower School director. Mr. Corvino noted that this day was the 21st annual Grandparents and Special Friends Day and certainly the best attended. He asked the audience how many had traveled more that 100 miles and about one-half of the group raised their hands. About 20 hands went up when he asked who had traveled more than 500 miles. There were about 35 hands that rose when he asked who had come more than 1,000 miles. One student’s grandparents came from China to enjoy this very special day.
Mr. Corvino continued by reading an essay about old words and phrases that have lost their meaning to the younger generation. Such as the bees knees, having moxy, cut a rug, dial the phone, play the hi fi, and many others have gone the way of wringer washing machines and have been replaced with technological terms such as bits, bytes, and surfing the net. The two kindergarten classes then took center stage and sang songs that brought tears and smiles to the guests. They performed High Hopes, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Love in Any Language (both signed simultaneously) and Let’s Go See Our Grandparents, sung to the tune of Take Me Out to the Ball Game (See below for the lyrics).
Grandparents were called by many different endearments—Grandma, Grandpa, Grammy, Grampy, Granny, Poppy, Nanny, Bubbie, Oma, Opa, Abuela, and Sam. The special friends included aunts, uncles, family friends, and neighbors. They all joined their students in the classrooms and participated in games such as “Famous Women Jeopardy,” creating geometric shapes with blocks, listening to a dulcimer concert, and reading books written by their students about them. The gymnasium was set up with projects that were proudly exhibited to the grandparents and special friends. Included were science projects, autobiographies, pyramids constructed from many different types of building materials, Spanish projects, and 3-D architectural models. Guests also toured the science, art, modern language rooms, and the computer labs.
The grandparents and special friends were clearly impressed with their children’s work and were pleased to participate in the activities that were planned just for them. The close of the day offered more entertainment as several music groups and the jump rope team showed off their talents. With cookie and punch, and lots of hugs and kisses, the day came to a close with very happy guests going home and very loved students going back to their classrooms.
Lyrics to Grandparents’ Day song: (sung to the tune of Take Me Out to the Ballgame)
Let’s go see our Grandparents,
Take us there for a while.
Mommy and Daddy both need a break,
We’ll play games and we’ll stay up real late!
Oh, we’d like to thank our Grandparents
For all the things that they do.
So it’s time to say…….You’re the best
And that WE…LOVE….YOU…!!!
© 2006 The Pingry School
