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Health & Fitness

Maple Hill Second Graders Go on a Cruise

The second grade students at Maple Hill Elementary were treated to day-long cruise on Friday, but they never left the school building. That is because their teachers transformed part of the school into a cruise ship, complete with nautical flags, deck chairs and many fun planned activities. The teachers wore the appropriate hats to be cruise directors and the parent volunteers, dubbed "assistant cruise directors," help dish out the fun.

The annual Cruise Day was the brainchild of Mrs. Donna Wamser, a second grade teacher at Maple Hill. Mrs. Wamser was an integral volunteer for the Grad Night Celebrations at her children's high school for many years. For that event she secured donations of decorations and crafted many of her own to transform the high school halls and rooms based on an ever-changing theme. One year she chose to treat the graduating seniors to a trip around the world and decorated the high school as such. So pulling off Cruise Day with her three grade level partners was somewhat less of a challenge when she came up with the idea over eight years ago. Mrs. Wamser also spearheaded an annual Mother's Day Tea at Maple Hill that is memorable for all the mothers that have attended over the years.

The second grade classes rotated through the cruise stations that included having their "Welcome Aboard" photo taken, crafting a picture frame for it in the "Craft Cabin," reading on the "Sun Deck," writing in their cruise journals, playing BINGO in their "staterooms." They also played games on the "Sports Deck" and enjoyed a dessert buffet in the "Windjammer Cafe."

Cruise Day is a day that many students remember long after the year is over. My freshman still remembers when he enjoyed it while in Mrs. Wamser's class. Congratulations to her and the second grade team of Mrs. Pam Fickel, Mrs. Stacey Puka and Mrs. Tainisha Lopez on providing such a special event for their students.

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