The 88th annual Geauga County Maple Festival parade theme was “Maple - Nature's Magical Ingredient” and the St. Mary School float did not disappoint.
Float Takes 1st Place
The 88th annual Geauga County Maple Festival parade theme was “Maple – Nature’s Magical Ingredient” and the St. Mary School float did not disappoint. A life-sized moving wizard directed floating bottles of syrup over a table full of pancakes, all created by school family volunteers’ magic.
The McCaskey family leads a long-standing tradition of winning the top award in their category, along with the help of the Eppich, Buzogany, Young and Svoboda families. The float was constructed to help represent St. Mary School in the annual event. Each year the team comes together with parents, staff and students from the school to enter the parade and participate in the weekend’s festivities. This year, they also worked to spread the word to save the date for their own annual St. Mary Parish Festival, which will take place July 7-9.
A Trip Back in Time
Students with braids and bonnets, suspenders and knickers walked off their bus and back in time this week as a part of their social studies curriculum and a long-standing tradition at St. Mary School. Dressed in time period specific costumes, and packing lunches authentic to the day, Mrs. Tracy’s fourth-grade students traveled to the Little Red Schoolhouse in Willoughby to experience a day in the life of students of that time.
Students began their day preparing homemade applesauce and discovering spinning and sewing in the traditional homestead. From there they were taken to try out an 1896 Platen printing press and learn how people communicated.
Students stayed in character throughout the day and continued on to the one room schoolhouse for lessons. There, they worked on penmanship using slate boards, read from shared books and had an old-fashioned spelling bee.
The Little Red Schoolhouse in Willoughby was built in 1901. The site is a three-building complex. In addition to the one-room schoolhouse, a print shop, looms and spinning wheels are also on display. A research library contains northeastern Ohio information.
