Field days are the culmination of the school year and a valuable part of the school experience. Teachers and parents come together for a break from the routine and engage in the fun of watching students enjoy healthy competition with their peers. Small schools can manage field days in one day whereas larger schools may take several days to accomplish the feat.
I have been blessed to experience field days as a guest participant mother and grandmother but also as a school administrator. In both capacities, the memories of those days are some of the most special I cherish.
Shawnda Ernst, principal of Ritta Elementary, shared a similar feeling about Ritta’s field day held last week, “Our staff, parents and students LOVE field day! It’s a great way to celebrate a year of hard work – just having fun with each other and enjoying the day. Our PE teachers and volunteers put so much work into making it a day where EVERYONE can have fun. It’s truly one of my favorite days of the year.”
Fifth grader Emma Nolen has her final elementary field day at Ritta Elementary
The importance of special events like field days when the community and school come together to celebrate the students is so vital to the connection between the two. Parent Kyle Nolen expressed it from the parent perspective, “Days like this show the best of our little school and our little community. I’m grateful for all of the teachers, staff, parents and volunteers of Ritta Elementary who have given of themselves to educate, support and encourage our daughter. As I watched Emma and her classmates celebrate the end of the school year and the end of their time at Ritta, I couldn’t help but remember all of the good memories we have had during her time there. We’re excited about what the future holds for Emma and her friends as they continue to grow up together and begin a new chapter at middle school.”
As for Emma Nolen, she ended her fifth grade field day with these thoughts: “This was probably the best field day I’d ever had. I’m really going to miss Mr. Ibbotson (Ritta PE teacher) and Ritta Elementary School.”
School field days are just a microcosm of the “real world” and we can hope our kids leave each day as Emma did last week so the world can continue to have the “best field day ever.”
All of us have a story and I want to tell yours! Send them to susan@knoxtntoday.com