Williamstown Students Celebrate Power of Words
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Above, the littlest students at Williamstown Elementary School led the Words are Wonderful costume parade on Wednesday. Even the school's principal, Joelle Brookner, got into the spirit with her costume inspired by Olivia the pig from the
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Harry Potter and Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz" made a surprise appearance at Williamstown Elementary School on Wednesday morning.
Actually, multiple Harrys and Dorothys joined countless other characters from beloved books as part of the costume parade as part of the school's annual Words Are Wonderful celebration of the power and magic of words.
The celebration kicked off last Friday with a school-wide trip to see Berkshire Theater Company's "Atlantis, Lost and Other Legends from the Strange Waves" at the '62 Center. It continued this week with community readers sharing stories with the students, as well as a special guest appearance by Amherst-based author Burleigh Muten, who wrote "Writing with Miss Emily," on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the costume parade marches along Church Street and through the neighboring Harper Center as a treat for local senior citizens, featuring kids from pre-K through sixth grade showing off their favorite characters from books or their favorite words. Throughout the week, each grade also is exploring words in different ways through field trips and other guest authors.
The remainder of the celebration features some events open to the public, including the WES PTO Book Fair, which runs daily through from 8:30 to 4:30 p.m. Friday in the school's auditorium. On Thursday night, the book fair will be open until 7:30 p.m. to coincide with a pizza dinner and the annual Scrabble Night tournament in the library; the tournament is also open to the public.
And wrapping up the week is an appearance of the Story Pirates on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Mass MoCA. Tickets are free but must be reserved and the public is welcome. Story Pirates is a nationally respected education and media organization founded in 2003 to celebrate the words and ideas of young people. By pairing world-class teachers with first-rate actors and comedians, the group offers a variety of tools to make learning more engaging and effective. The Story Pirates will perform some of their regular stories as well as stories created during workshops with the younger grades at WES on Thursday.
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