Lake Charles, LA

Community Carnival

Teachers, administrators, and the Action Team for Partnerships (ATP) at College Oaks Elementary School aimed to unite the community in an event supporting literacy projects.  The Community Carnival offered activity booths, games, and food stands staffed by teachers and parent volunteers.  Student members of the Fitness Club hosted a Color Run.  The evening of fun and games also served as a tribute to thank parents and other volunteers for all that they do for their children, the school, and the community.  School partners and community members donated items for the Carnival and worked a photo booth. Business partners donated lights and banners for the celebration.

The Carnival featured the literacy projects of all students at each grade level.  Their reading and writing work was displayed in the hallway for parents to review and discuss with their children.  External judges were selected to score the literacy projects.  Students with the winning projects were presented with awards at the Carnival.

Olympics Day

At the end of the school year, each grade at College Oaks Elementary School was assigned a country to study in class and to complete a student project.  To extend students’ knowledge about and appreciation for the cultures they studied, the school also held Olympics Day for friendly competition in games between “countries” at each grade level.  A planning group of members of the Action Team for Partnerships (ATP) and other teachers and parents selected the games, considered the many countries of origin of students at the school, and organized the schedule that would be fun for the students and audience of family members

Students made flags for their assigned country and marched in with their flags for opening ceremonies.  All students’ projects and reports were displayed in the halls for visitors to see on Olympics Day.  A community partner donated t-shirts in different colors for each grade level and country. Parents and other family members volunteered to guide the games or came to support the players.

Two grade levels competed in blocks of 45 minutes on selected Olympic-style games.  In class, the PE teacher reviewed how to play the selected games and each student signed up to play one of the games. Everyone celebrated the opening and closing ceremonies together to show the spirit of the school.

These activities were combined and featured in Promising Partnership Practices 2018.