Highland Elementary held its own Olympic opening ceremony on Friday. (Submitted photo)
WESTFIELD – Highland Elementary 5th grade teacher Patricia Wysocki and her 5th grade students organized an Olympic tribute on Friday in honor of the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games.
Wysocki said she grew up on the same street as Olympic U.S. Ice Hockey player Kacey Bellamy, and all the neighborhood kids played street hockey together. She said her students thought that this would be a good way to promote patriotism and national pride for all students. They created a Google slide show for the presentation.
Patricia Wysocki and her fifth grade students (L-R) Mark Mukha, Alina Kostenko, Nikita Chemeris, Britney Paredes, Bianca Malancha, and Victoria Livchin organized the ceremony. (Photo submitted)
Wysocki also developed a binder of cross-curricular lesson plan ideas for staff at Highland to use for the whole month of February. “This truly became a school-wide initiative supported by the administration,” said Westfield Public Schools Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski.
“We wanted to honor the hard work and sacrifices that Kacey has made to reach the Olympics again,” said 5th grade student and organizer Britney Parades. “Kacey is an inspiration for not giving up and always reaching her goals,” added student organizer Bianca Malancha.
Highland Assistant Principal Jill Phelon said with so many international students at Highland it was a good project. “This is a current event that our students can appreciate with so many countries represented here at Highland School. It’s exciting,” Phelon said.
The event began with a torch relay. (Photo submitted)
Highland Principal Mary Claire Manning agreed. “The Olympics are an international event that brings together different cultures and exemplifies perseverance and teamwork. It’s a great example for students showing that it doesn’t matter where we are from, we can all work together,” Manning said.
“It was nice to see how enthusiastic the students are in supporting Bellamy. They want the USA Women’s Hockey team to get the gold,” added Czaporowski.
Connell Burke and Roman Yurovsky carry the U.S. flag. (Photo submitted)
Another project initiated by Trish Wysocki and Director of Curriculum and Instruction Susan Dargie was to invite K-12 art teachers across the district to have their students create posters that show Westfield Public Schools support of their hometown hero, Kacey Bellamy. These posters can now be seen hanging around town in various area businesses.
