March Madness mystery stumps Family Reading Night attendees
Hillsboro Elementary School held its annual Family Reading Night this past Tuesday. A whopping 62 percent of the student body and families attended the event.
The theme for the evening was March Madness; but the evening was not centered only on basketball.
In addition to roundball fever, families rotated to stations that revolved around other March happenings, such as the coming of spring, gardening, weather, and even the change to Daylight Saving Time.
Members of the state championship Lady Trojans basketball team were featured in the opening "act" of the evening, a skit entitled "March Madness Mystery" in which they discovered one of their players, Shanna Banana, was missing.
Suspecting foul play, the team members listed suspects who might have snatched their teammate. With the scene set, families headed to the stations to pick up clues to solve the mystery.
The stations for the evening were:
— Tornado Alley — Students and families had a chance to brush up on tornado safety while using the school's Kidspiration software. The software is a graphic organizer that students use to better organize thoughts and ideas when writing.
— Basketball — the Heart of March Madness — You can't have March Madness without basketball, so students listened to a story about the game and then had the opportunity to display some of their own basketball skills.
— "Worming" our way into spring
— After listening to the story, "Diary of a Worm" by Doreen Cronin, in which a worm tells his school and home experiences through his eyes, students enjoyed making and eating "dirt cups" with their very own gummy worms.
— Once Upon a Time, The End - — With the time change here, parents often find it even more difficult to get their children to bed. At this station, families watched a video showing one father's attempt to put his children to bed quickly. The father, (played by Mr. Yoder), shortens countless familiar fairy tales in an unsuccessful attempt to get his children (played by volunteer fifth graders) to sleep.
Look for the video on channel 45 all through spring break.
— Spring into Reading — Since it was Family Reading Night, families were given 12 minutes of uninterrupted reading time. Books were set out to match the evening's theme.
— Book Walk - — Similar to a cake walk, children walked in a circle on scanned book covers while music played. When the music stopped, a title was drawn. The student standing on that title received a prize. Prizes included books, posters, stickers, and candy.
At the end of each station, a clue was given out to help families decide on the identity of the kidnapper.
When the stations had ended, families headed back to the gym to discuss the clues and make their final vote. The suspects waited in the gym to collect ballots. Once the voting was done, the skit continued and the kidnapper was revealed.
Shanna Banana hopped into the locker room at halftime to let everyone know it was the referee! From the ballots cast for the ref, two names were drawn and the winners were given autographed basketballs from the HHS boys' and girls' basketball teams.
To end the evening, various teachers and fifth grade volunteers presented a melodrama, based on the book, "The Gold Miner's Daughter," by Jackie Mims Hopkins. The melodrama included audience participation and created lots of laughs.
Mr. Jilka's fourth grade class had the highest percentage of attendance with 93 percent, earning them a class pizza party.
