Webutuck celebrates the night with annual Theme Day

WEBUTUCK — Webutuck Elementary School opened its doors on Friday, March 1, to reveal an overnight transformation for its annual Theme Day.The event is put on by the faculty and staff, along with parent volunteers, all who worked through Thursday evening to make this year’s theme, A Journey Into the Night, come alive. Hallways were transformed into snowy winter evenings and silhouetted city-scapes.“It’s so cool to walk into the school being dark,” Librarian Beth Murphy said.The lights were dimmed in all the rooms as students were put into groups made up of different ages that went around and participated in various activities.Students were welcome to wear pajamas or black clothing to help bring the theme to life.“Some people are doing camping themes, some are working with winter nights. I’ve turned the library into ‘A Night At The Museum,’ which we will be reading today,” Murphy said. Many groups read stories before participating in an activity as Theme Day marks the official start of the Parents As Reading Partners (PARP) program.“It’s such a great way to get kids thinking about PARP and to get them excited for it. They hear a lot of stories today and get to take home a variety of projects and things they created,” she said.Murphy used the opportunity to have students create their own fossils.“In the book the dinosaurs come to life at night. So we have a real fossil here for them to see and they’ll be making their own from clay. It’s a fun way to bring the story to life,” she said.In the gymnasium Rosanne Persico, elementary physical education teacher, read aloud a winter tale as students sat in plastic sleds.“Now we’re going to stretch out by having a make-believe snowball fight,” she said.The students then burst out in giggles as they pretended to toss snowballs at each other. Other games included throwing a fake snowball at targets and working in a relay team to draw a snowman.“This year PARP is shorter because of how the vacations fall. But we still want to make it as big a deal as any year,” Murphy said.“It’s a full day of enrichment that they don’t even realize is happening because it’s so much fun. What more could you ask for?” she asked.For more information on the PARP program go to www.webutuckschools.org.