Linda Wiley was excited about Grandparents Day at Monte Sano Elementary School.
"My grandson is happy to know that I can come and eat lunch with him and visit his class," she said of Jaylen George, 7, as she waited to go to his classroom. "He's very excited, and I am, too. Nothing could have kept me away today."
Madeline Turner also was excited about seeing her granddaughter, Grace Turner, 7, during the event Sept. 11.
"This is a super opportunity to get to participate in your grandchild's life," she said. "I'm looking forward to meeting her friends and classmates."
Signs with messages such as "Grandparents Are Special" greeted the visitors in the hallways, and in the classrooms they were met with enthusiastic "hellos" and waves from pupils and teachers.
"As expected, it's exciting for the children, because not all of them get to see their grandparents all of the time," said Emily James, a third-grade teacher. "However, it's just as exciting for us because we get to meet the child's extended family, and it's a chance for us to show how important they are to the child and to the school."
More than 200 people, including some parents, attended the event.
In addition to visiting classrooms, they ate lunch with the children, learned more about the school's Parent Teacher Association and other programs and had the opportunity to have their blood pressure checked by medical technology students from A.R. Johnson Health Science and Engineering Magnet High School.
The support that the grandparents show for the grandchildren and the school encourages more parents to get involved, said Charles James, the school's PTA president.
"That generation are strong advocates for education and want to see our children gain as much education as they can," he said. "That only encourages parents to live up to those standards and do their part."
Principal Kathryn Perrin said the event is one of many the school plans to get families more involved with the school.
"The kids get excited when people they love are interested in what they are doing," she said. "So I'm looking forward to seeing more parents and grandparents get involved."
Reach Nikasha Dicks at (706) 823-3336 or nikasha.dicks@augustachronicle.com.
Comments
Our public schools need the active participation of parents, grandparents, siblings, aunties, uncles, cousins and other community members if they are to prepare our kids for what will probably be a more competitive and less affluent world than the one to which we have become accustomed.
What is an auntie? Should we say uncleie?
Auntie ranks up there with granny, mommy, and daddy. People are used to two-syllable terms of endearment for their relatives. The terms Aunt, Mom, and Dad are single syllable titles for a relative. However, some prefer the extra syllabled family member titles. The big question is why do some people say grandma-ma instead of grandmama or even grandma? The simple answer is that it is just the way their families do things. PUTT, why be so nit-picky?
If we are to ever get our kids interested in school, this is the very type program to do it. Hats off to the teachers Kids and A.R.Johnson students and Grandparents who attended.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ueEfRXZCVA .....please view Americans Freedoms being destroyed also http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RfrcnAjcWZs and important too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3kBn1usddI
This year marks the 30th anniversary of National Grandparents day. The impetus for a National Grandparents Day originated with Marian McQuade (now age 91), a housewife in Fayette County, West Virginia.
Her primary motivation was to champion the cause of lonely elderly in nursing homes. She also hoped to persuade grandchildren to tap the wisdom and heritage their grandparents could provide. President Jimmy Carter, in 1978, proclaimed that National Grandparents Day would be celebrated every year on the first Sunday after Labor Day.
When is Grandparents Day? This year Grandparents Day falls on Sept. 7, 2008. Forget-Me-Not is named Official Flower of Grandparents Day
The statute cites the day's purpose as: "... to honor grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children's children, and to help children become aware of strength, information, and guidance older people can offer."
Check out these links for activities and resources:
http://www.grandparents-day.com/activities.htm
http://www.thegrandparentsday.com
would have loved to be there went there in about 1944
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