Reed Rally Welcomes Students And Parents

By Eliza Hallabeck

The hill in front of Reed Intermediate School was covered with students, parents, and food this past Wednesday, September 3, for the start of the Reed Rally.

Starting at 5 pm, parents were encouraged to bring food for a picnic, and events and a rally atmosphere followed. Students were allowed to also invite friends and relatives for the event.

Nathan Williams, a 10-year-old who came to Reed Intermediate School from Middle Gate School, said he was attending the Reed Rally for the first time. Nathan said he came to the event for “the big picnic.”

“It’s a really big school,” said Kerri Williams, Nathan’s mother. “I know there are over 400 students in the class. So I know knew this was going to be big.”

Ms Williams and Nathan sat on the hill around other students from Middle Gate School who started school at the Reed this fall.

Some families brought bagged lunch-style dinners, but the popular choice for families seemed to be pizza.

Families were scheduled to be there for the first hour to eat their picnic meals near other students and families from the same elementary school. The events that followed were used to introduce the students and families to their new home rooms at Reed Intermediate School. Signs reading the names of the different elementary schools were used to show picnicgoers where to sit.

“It’s fun,” said Kristin Whelan, who was there with her sons Kris and Joey Whelan. “I think it’s a great way to get everyone together.”

Kris and Joey ate pizza with their friend Chris Morlock during the picnic, and they said they had the idea last year to bring pizza.

Assistant Principal Anthony Salvatore said the day was a success.

“We had a lot of positive feedback from the parents,” said Mr Salvatore. He also said the parents at this year’s Reed Rally participated in more activities than he has seem them do in previous years.

After the picnic outside in the front of the school, a slide show was shown in the school’s cafetorium. The slide show was composed of images taken from the first day of school, because, Mr Salvatore said, the school wanted the parents to see how their students reacted to the first day of school.

“They enjoy [the slide show] while they are eating a fruit bar for desert,” said Mr Salvatore. The fruit bar was part of the contribution from Chartwells, the food service provider for the Newtown School District, for the Reed Rally.

After the slide show a video on what nutritional lunches include, and a quiz on the subject were shown and passed out to parents.

According to Mr Salvatore, the events of the day included a vegetable tasting station with dip and a Project Adventure station, which had a challenge with a ball having to be kept up in the air by the group of participants.

The Reed Rally overall is about promoting “the idea of working together and having fun,” said Mr Salvatore.

Mr Salvatore said another station was set up in the gym, and participants enjoyed relay races against each other.

There were four different stations in all for the students and parents to visit, and by the end of the night, Mr Salvatore said, there was positive comments coming from the parents about the event.