MalloryKeaton

http://www.click2houston.com/educati...08/detail.html

School Eliminates Holiday Parties
Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day Parties Prohibited

POSTED: 5:02 pm EDT September 3, 2004
UPDATED: 11:32 am EDT September 8, 2004

GROVEPORT, Ohio -- Dressing up in Halloween costumes in grade school and having punch and cookies used to be one of the most anticipated days of the school year. Now, students at one elementary school in Ohio won't have those memories, WCMH-TV reported.

Leaders at Glendening Elementary School in Groveport say education comes first, and that means cutting out holiday parties.

Administrators sent a letter home with students Thursday alerting parents that there will no longer be Halloween, Christmas or Valentine's Day parties.

"Since they are canceling these activities, it's kind of like they are taking tradition out of school," said Chris Ayers, a parent.

Principal William Sternberg said about 15 percent of the student population doesn't participate in the parties because of personal beliefs. He said the teachers think the classroom gatherings take away valuable instructional time.

"Our teachers came together to make sure our test scores come up this year, and this is what they came up with," Sternberg said.

He stressed there will be some celebrations during the academic year, but the parties will be based on academics instead of holidays, Flannigan reported.

"Second grade does ancient Greece. We might do a party with ancient Greece," he said. "Those parties further enhance the lessons learned during those sections."

Leaders originally suggested eliminating individual birthday parties. Now there will be one big birthday bash.

Despite the birthday celebrations, some parents fear their children will miss something as a result of the new policy.

"He needs to look at the fact that he's leaving out a very important American concept from the children's lives and their history," Ayers said.

Administrators said they're still revising the new policy and changes could be made.

Some parents plan to circulate a petition to bring the holiday parties back.

Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc.

WalkingOnSunshine

Grrr!

Rock on with that petition parents! Give your kids back their childhood memories and let include holiday parties!

MalloryKeaton

I think it's sad that those kids won't get to enjoy holiday parties. I know education is important, but a few hours for a party isn't going to drastically affect learning.

*Lauren

Personally, I don't remember the little parties we had at school for holidays. I don't think its going to affect the kids too much.

Cail

Considering how low test scores are in the US, I think focusing on education is more important. Yes, the parties are only for a few hours, but think about how many holiday & birthday parties there are in a year... If a classroom were to celebrate birthdays once a month for two hours, almost 3 days of the school year are lost. If they were to celebrate Valentine's Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter, and Christmas/New Years for two hours each, approximately 2 days are lost. That's an entire school week that the kids could have been learning. A week can make a HUGE difference in learning. Not to mention that most of these parties' expenses come directly out of the teacher's wallet. And if you or someone you know is a teacher, you'll know that they already fork over a lot of money to buy teaching supplies that the school didn't cover.

If a school were to go the party route, then I agree with the suggested educational-themed party. Both the teachers and the students will benefit from it.

Charlize'sAngel

Talk about taking away school spirit. These parties could have served as motivation and as a reward if kids performed well. Maybe they could cut out the smaller events and just keep the major ones like Halloween and Christmas at least.

Mio

That sucks! I looooove school parties. I still participate in them, when I volunteer at the elementary school I volunteer at.

Katis

I think school parties are important to break up the monotony, just like recess is. I loved the holiday parties, getting the valentines and dressing up. All the kids would wear their costumes and we'd have a parade through the gym that the parents could come and watch. School is about more than academics, it's about social situations as well and other things that are important in life, like having fun and being creative.

WalkingOnSunshine

Two hour birthday parties and holiday parties? I am sure the kids would love that, but I don't think any schools devoted that much time to the parties. Especialy, if the parties are held during normal school hours. When I was in school - birthdays were celebrated by the parents bringing in a birthday cake or cupcakes for a snack and the kids singing happy birthday. That was it. As for Christmas, Easter, Halloween, - those parties had a bit more focus and time but nowhere near the extreme of taking away that much valuable class time. I don't know about other schools, but the ones around here had the parents and room mothers paid for the parties not the teachers.

Besides, I seriously doubt taking a few minutes away to have a birthday cupcake or to sing a Christmas carole is going to send any kid on the road to dropping out. Don't most of these parties fade away after the middle school grades anyway?

Mio

I depends on the teacher. The last time I had some kind of a class party was in high school, about 11th grade. My teacher wanted to take a break from teaching (during final exam time) so we had a "melting pot party". Everyone brought in a dish that was from their heritage- and this was English class. It was pretty cool.

meretwins

damn they sure are sucking out what ever remainding joy kids have left...no dodgeball at recess 'cause it's too "agressive", some schools barely have recess because it's not time well spent and now no holiday parties...what a shame...

Clash181

I agree. I used to love holiday parties when I was in elementary. Now that I'm in HighSchool, we had Spirit week where we had days where you picked a friend and wore the same clothes(twin day) and we had 80's day(my personal favourite). This year they took that away from us because "It distracts from learning" whatever. I'm glad I'm a senior and I'm on my out instead of in.

migamoo

Most schools have parties for what, 3 holidays? That's three days out of the year that you aren't going to teach anything. I don't know about others but I think that's fine. It give the teachers a break as well as letting the students have fun.

*Lauren

I've never got dodgeball and how it was played at schools. You're throwing a ball at people, often as hard as you can! That's not a sport, that's bullying. We call it brandings over here (usually with a tennis ball, which hurts more) and its not allowed.

I think the school's suggestion to have the parties relating to the topic is a better idea anyways. The holiday parties aren't memorable anyways, where if I'd hada party about Anceint Greece I'd remember that. I still remember the day in Year 6 where we got to dress up in clothes from the Australian colonial period and play games and do stuff relating to that. Awesome day! I think we had some parties that year, but I don't remember.

TheCheshireKitten

Agreed. I remember having holiday parties in elementary school and I loved it. It's sad, IMO, that kids can't be kids anymore, even for something as enjoyable and harmless as a party for the holidays.