Grandparent's Day 2013

Last Friday was Grandparent's Day--not the national holiday (that was in September), but a huge annual event that's held at our school to honor the grandparents of our students.  Grandparent's Day is one of the biggest events we have and we go all out for it!  The campus gets decorated beautifully and everything is "spiffed up" a bit.

Each year, the grandparents arrive at 9 a.m. and are greeted with a delicious breakfast and beautiful corsages (for the grandmothers).  At 10 a.m. they are seated in the sanctuary and the students perform songs, skits, and dances for their entertainment.  During this assembly, we have an awards ceremony for accomplishments like "The Grandparents Who've Been Married the Longest," "The Grandparents with the Most Grandchildren," etc. and these particular grandparents are given prizes.  After the program, the grandparents get to visit the classrooms and meet their grandchild's teacher.  On this day, school dismisses at 12 p.m. and the children get to spend the rest of the day with their families. 

This is such a special day, and 5th grade was asked to do something extra-special for this year's event.  For the past few years, my students have simply sung with the elementary chapel group on Grandparent's Day.  This year, however, we were asked to perform an original comedy skit.  This had been common practice years ago from a former 5th grade teacher who was extremely talented and creative.  I am not nearly as creative as Jeanne Thon, but I agreed to take on the challenge.

I called all 5th grade students together for a meeting and asked them to share with me what they enjoyed doing with their grandparents and what made their grandparents so special.  They shared ideas with me and I typed them up.  Over one weekend, I used these ideas to write a script.  I have never in my life written and directed a skit!  Without further ado, here's our comedy skit from Grandparent's Day 2013:

A few things to note:

• We discovered the day before the program that only ONE cordless mic was available, so we had to make do (we had planned on having two microphones).
• We put baby powder in the students' hair to make them look gray.
• There is a child in the skit who recites his lines incredibly fast.  We tried to slow him down during our practices. 

"Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God.  The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old.  Young people take pride in their strength, but the gray hairs of wisdom are even more beautiful."
Leviticus 19:32; Proverbs 20:29 (NIV and Contemporary English Version)