On May 18, St. Mary of the Lakes School, Medford, hosted its annual Grandparents/Special Persons Day.  Grandparents came from far and wide to enjoy a morning of entertainment provided by the students.  This tradition has continued at St. Mary of the Lakes School for more than 20 years.

This year’s theme was “American Bandstand.” Each grade sang songs popular from 1952 through 1989.  Kindergarteners sang the Mickey Mouse Club song, the second graders sang “Locomotion,” and fourth graders gave a rendition of “Button Up Your Overcoat.” The eighth grade class ushered in the disco era and recreated the popular “Rate-a-Record” segment from the American Bandstand show.

Throughout the performances, eighth graders served as hosts and asked the audience American Bandstand trivia questions. Persons who gave the correct response were given a prize.

Grandparents overflowed the auditorium and the balcony.  They came from as close as Medford and from as far away as El Salvador – 5,000 miles!  There were grandparents with their first grandchild in the school and there were grandparents who were coming for the 17th time to Grandparents Day. 

After the musical performances, grandparents spent the rest of the morning visiting their grandchildren’s classrooms and viewing exhibits.  Among the noted classroom highlights for grandparents: viewing the baby chicks, ducks and butterflies in the kindergarten classroom; listening to inspiring book reports by second graders; hearing third graders recite haiku poems, and listening to eighth graders give speeches from history and perform famous scenes from famous movies and poems.

The SML TV crew members captured the day’s highlights on video and showed them on the school’s daily broadcast, including a grandparent being interviewed in Italian.