LENOX, Mass. — Morris Elementary School students kicked off their winter vacation with a good behavior celebration. 

 

Students returned from Thanksgiving break with a challenge — to collectively get at least 2,026 ROAR tickets. 

 

The ROAR ticket represents the school's values of: Rising to a challenge, Owning your actions, Always working together, and Respecting yourself and others. It also references the school's tiger mascot, said fifth-grade students Rosalie Cass, Charlotte Burke, Liadan Moriarty, and Sammi Simonelli in unison.

 

The event was very "exciting," they said. 

 

Students earn ROAR tickets by demonstrating positive behaviors such as using kind words and manners, showing leadership, helping friends, and following school expectations.

 

The 321 students in prekindergarten through fifth grade surpassed the school's goal by a great deal, said Holly Soules, assistant principal. 

 

"We're also very proud of earning the right number of more tickets," Charlotte said. 

 

The festivities were not only a reward for the students' positive behavior but also showcased their skills, community, and the positive culture in the school

 

The daylong event included a light show made by each grade's coding in technology classes, two ice carving demonstrations by artists Peter Vacchina and Robert Markey, who created the letter M and a tiger, winter-themed games, and hot chocolate and cookies. 

 

The day also included letter making that will be sent to about six community organizations including the Town Hall, Fire and Police departments, and some community members, Soules said. 

 

"Art always has a good impact on students. Art and music does something to the brain. It makes people feel good," Markey said.

 

"When I work with kids and they make art, they feel so much better than they felt before they started." 

 

Vacchina, who is a retired high school science teacher, recollected how class outside was the highlight of many students' day. 

 

"Watching us work on these crystal clear chunks of ice — can't ask for anything better on a day before vacation," he said. 

 

The event "builds a community within a school. It builds friendships. We're always talking about working together and being good friends [and] good peers to each other," Principal Brenda Kelley said. 

 

A highlight of the event was the demonstration of collaboration between different grade levels. Each aspect of the event, from its decorations to the festivities, centered around the collaborative nature the school nurtures. 

 

As soon as you walk into the school there were origami snowflakes hang from the ceiling, made by Kyle Betters and Melanie Counsell's fifth-grade classes with their second-grade buddies.

 

The school kicked off its winter carnival on Monday morning, two days before the winter break, with the Walking Holiday Light Show. 

 

Each grade in technology teacher Kate Olender's coding and robotics class spent three weeks bringing to life winter-light installations by building structures from cardboard, programming lights and robots, or troubleshooting technical challenges. 

 

The process taught student design process, computational thinking, coding concepts, and problem solving, she said. 

 

"They feel like they're giving something back to their community. They have pride in their work, and they get to show off what they're learning," Olender said. 

 

The students are really learning how to develop their science, technology, math, and peer modeling skills, Kelley said. 

 

Following the installation, the gym opened back up to make room for winter-themed activities, including building a "snowman" in the gym using physical education equipment.