Grandparents share day with students

Ron Yokley accepts a plant from his granddaughter, Megan, a first-grader. Yokley received the flower as a door prize at the Bronaugh school Grandparent's Day, Thursday, for being the youngest grandparent who graduated from Bronaugh.

By Ben Holman

Nevada Daily Mail

On Thursday morning, the Bronaugh school held a special event in honor of Grandparent's Day. Grandparents and great-grandparents from as far away as San Antonio, Tx., came to visit with their grandchildren and participate in festivities.

The kindergartners, first and second graders were very excited to be able to play host to their grandparents. "They've been talking non-stop all morning," said Kathy Wait, kindergarten teacher.

Sherry Pruitt, K-3 music teacher, said that the kids worked for several weeks to prepare for the day. She also said that grandparents day events at Bronaugh were intended, "to honor grandparents and put a program on to give (both the kids and grandparents) something to enjoy and to remember."

The day began with a performance by the children. They did a grandparent rap and sang "Hello There," a welcoming song. Then the group listened to a reading of "My Grandpa and I."

After that, the kids all sang two versions of "Itsy Bitsy Spider." The first was the traditional version, but the second was a real show-stopper.

The kids sang along with Little Richard's funky rendition and showed off some newly learned dance moves, which included "the monkey" and "the swim."

That was followed by some poems about grandparents and another reading, "My Grandma and I."

The program was ended with the awarding of door prizes. Potted flowers were given to grandparents in a variety of categories: Oldest, youngest, most grandchildren and several other categories. The audience got a bit of comic relief when Aaron Michael, a first-grader, tried to obtain a flower for his grandmother.

While they were looking for the oldest grandparent, Aaron stood up and said, "My grandma's 104 and she's right there," as he pointed at a woman who was clearly nowhere near 104 years old.

After the program the group adjourned to the lunch room for a meal, where the kids talked of all they had done and eagerly begged praise of their families.

Following that, the grandparents were escorted back to the individual classrooms of their grandchildren, where they were presented with gifts made by the kids.

All the grandparents seemed to enjoy the chance to see their grandkids perform and to visit the school.

Everett Forkner, whose grandson Austin is a kindergartner at Bronaugh, said that he was excited to see the kids.

He said that his grandson had been nervous about attending school.

"He told his dad the other day he guessed he'd quit crying by today," said Forkner.

Austin showed no signs of shyness on Thursday during the second Itsy Bitsy Spider song, he was one of the most enthusiastic dancers.