The Fredonia Parent Teacher Organization and the Fredonia Central School District recently hosted a celebration at each of the elementary schools in the district to celebrate students from Pre-K through 4th Grade for a stellar at-home read-a-thon through the middle of March.

The first of the two celebrations took place at Wheelock, where students got to cover Principal Amy Piper with silly string. The celebration also featured bubbles, music and dancing. The following day, Fredonia Elementary followed suit with a celebration of its own.

At a Board of Education meeting earlier in the week, Elementary Principal Mark Drollinger joked that he would be busy the day of the celebration, and that he was unsure of who students would be able to cover with silly string. But as Drollinger darted out from a fort of mats in the corner of the gym, students erupted in anticipation of taking their turn playfully victimizing their school principal. To Drollinger’s credit, his smile never faded – even as silly string covered the mask he held over his eyes and the smock he wore over his clothes.

But it wasn’t just Drollinger’s smile that infectiously filled the gym. From the moment students passed through an entrance donned with an arch of balloons and bubble machines running, smiles were showing all throughout the room. Students danced to the music, which included LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem and I’m Good by Bebe Rexha and David Guetta, among others. Then after each group listened carefully to instructions to only shoot the silly string at Mr. Drollinger, classes lined up one by one to take their turn unleashing their best upon Fredonia’s principal.

Elementary Principal Mark Drollinger smiled as he was covered with silly string by Fredonia students. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen.

During the read-a-thon, students in the district in Pre-K through 4th Grade read for a total of 64,429 minutes — over 1,000 hours — from Monday, March 13 through Friday, March 24. Students logged their minutes spent reading and their parents signed to verify the figures.

Fredonia parent Sarah Krzal said, “Our PTO would like to thank Fredonia Animal Hospital for donating the silly string for our assemblies, Tuscany Fresh Meats and Deli for sponsoring student prize packs for each student, and e.da.co Eclectic Dance Company for supplying music and microphones, as well as emceeing our assemblies.”

OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen.

OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen.