If you happened to gaze into the sixth grade classrooms at Sippican Elementary on April 3, a quite unusual sight would have met the eye. Princesses, super heroes, athletes, and everything in between roamed the halls.
This creative and unusual spirit day for the sixth grade was founded by one of the teachers, Cathy Sinnott. She called it “Make Believe Day.”
Prior to this event, students wrote poems and read stories based on growing up, which everyone had mixed feelings about. The main purpose of this dress-up occasion was to have everybody re-live the memories and feelings of being young.
“There are two reasons for this day,” Sinnott explained to the class,” to be young again and feel the sensation of hope that you’ll always have an inner child.” And at 8:40 the next morning, students paraded in dressed as the character or profession they pretended to be as a child.
To kick off the event, a Mystery Guest greeted students, who turned out to be Mary Poppins from the Zeiterion production of the musical. She answered questions about her character and background, as well as read a story. All of this was followed by a chorus of “A Spoon Full of Sugar,” which put a smile on positively everyone’s face.
“Mary Poppins’ performance was a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious one,” exclaimed Emma Vivino, who was decked out in her childhood artist outfit.
As Jane and Michael did in film, students wrote a description of their dream Nanny. Jillian Craig and Grace Magee shared theirs and it was just as good as the one created in 1964.
After Mary was bid farewell, a 15-minute naptime took place. And it wasn’t a surprise that this was one of the most favored events throughout the day. Following that was a snack, which consisted of dry Cheerios.
“The Cheerios were awesome,” explained John Mollica, who was dressed in a robot costume.
To conclude their day of fun, students went outdoors to play Aleuth, which is a traditional African game similar to Sharks and Minnows. However, the sharks are lions and the minnows are townspeople.
“Make Believe Day was a great chance to explore and be little again,” commented Emma Williamson toward the end of the day.
Overall, this smashing spirit day was a success, and hopefully it will be part of sixth grade for years to come.
By Bessie Pierre
Bessie Pierre is a student at Sippican School.