Four groups judged as winners in Malabar’s annual holiday costume day assemble at the front of the gym before students were dismissed to begin classes. The staff at
Malabar Intermediate School demonstrated again Tuesday morning the effort they
put into creating a family-like environment throughout the building.
Nearly 700
fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders sat along each side of the gym floor during
morning assembly, laughing and cheering the antics of teachers attired in a
variety of holiday costumes.
Dawn Cole held
a cardboard engine in front of her as she led a train of other staff weaving through
the middle of the gym.
Amy Bartlett and Brad Strong were colorfully costumed as Heat Miser and Snow Miser, characters from “The Year Without a Santa Claus.”
A dozen staff members dressed as elves appeared as 12 Pipers Piping, playing “March of the Toy Soldiers” on plastic flutes.
“The kids love this. It brings everyone together,” assistant principal Tom Hager said. “We're like a family. That’s what we’re about here at Malabar.”
Tuesday was
the last day for students before winter break. They will return on Jan. 3.
“Staff participation today represents the teamwork we have every day,” principal Andrea Moyer said. “We want the kids to leave on a high note, then come back in January ready to go back to work.”
As the assembly concluded the students stood – every one of them – faced the large American flag on the north wall, and joined their teachers in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.