As they strive to be the heart of their community, Camp Dick Robinson Elementary truly values family and community involvement within their school. Recently Camp Dick Robinson hosted their annual Fall Family Night and welcomed around 750 students, families, and community members combined to participate in a fun event, planned just for them.
The Fall Family Night had four different components for students and families to participate in- staff, students and parents alike were excited to make connections and build relationships beyond the typical classroom environment.
Something for Everyone
Camp Dick Robinson understands the need for differentiation, and strives to meet all student needs. Like the September Math Numeracy Night, CDR included a “sensory-friendly” hour to their event, which provided a smaller, quieter crowd for the students with sensory sensitivities.
CDR Parent, Beth Bryd, says “I'm very impressed with Camp Dick Robinson’s parent nights for being inclusive to sensory needs. It means so much to my family to be able to join in on activities that have always been a struggle. The trick or treat night gave many kids the opportunity to practice interacting for Halloween with faces that were familiar to them, taking away some anxiety that they may have been feeling.”
“Counting” on the Night to be a Good One!
As students entered the doors of CDR they were greeted in the front lobby with estimation stations- where students used math grouping and counting skills to guess the number of items in each container. There were four estimation containers, one filled with beads, a second one filled with bubble gum, a third filled with suckers, and a final container filled with toy monkeys. Students completed cards with their name and guesses to be entered to win a prize. A thank you goes out to CDR Math Interventionist, Mrs. Angie Stull, for assessing the students' guesses and determining the winners! Students were awarded prizes the next day at school.
Estimation Station Winners
From left to right: Emmett Kitchen (5th Grader), Abe Jett (5th Grader), Luci Jones (2nd Grader) and Avery Burger (3rd Grader).
Trick or Treat and all the Sweets
This recent family night was Halloween themed- students were encouraged to dress up and participate in trick or treating at each classroom door. The halls of CDR were filled with students and families and LOTS of candy- take a look!
Students and families were not the only participants dressed up for Fall Family Night-CDR staff also participated and came in their most creative costumes. From emojis to Winnie the Pooh characters to ice cream cones, they had it all. Take a look at some of the CDR staff’s costume creativity!
Hotdog, hotdog, hot diggety dog!
After trick-or treating through the halls of CDR, students were treated to a hotdog snack from Camp Dick Robinson’s cafeteria staff, led by Mrs. Crystal Cornelius. Students were served their hotdog snack by staff member, Shana Stacey, dressed as a mustard packet and by her son dressed as a hotdog! Students and families could take their snack to-go or sit for a while and eat in the cafeteria.
And, that’s a Wrap!
Camp Dick Robinson Elementary staff enjoys organizing and participating in the family events each month. Principal Lesley Lawson says, “Our staff always looks forward to these family events. We love welcoming families and community stakeholders to our building because of their amazing support throughout the year.”
Staff members are not the only eager participants of the family nights. Camp Dick Robinson parents also spoke out about the success of these types of events and their gratitude for the planning and organizing.
CDR Parent, Allison Bailey says, “I am so excited about all the opportunities that CDR offers parents to get involved volunteering during school hours as well as providing time to interact with students and teachers at these monthly after school events. We loved the switch from fall festival to trick or treat night. My girls had so much fun getting to trick or treat with their friends and seeing their teachers dressed up. Can’t wait for the open house event in November!”
CDR Parent, Patrick Sullivan says, “I cannot say enough about all the staff at Camp Dick Robinson. The Fall Festival at CDR last Wednesday was a great success. I have not seen an event at CDR that has attracted the same amount of kids and parents. The staff at CDR continues to go out of their way to support a community approach to educating our young kids while finding creative ways to include parents in school activities. This effort makes me proud to be an alumnus of CDR.”
The Fall Family Night has not been CDR’s only success when it comes to after school events. In September, CDR hosted a Math and Numeracy Night for students and families that had a huge turn out as well (event images can be found on CDR’s social media and website). Camp Dick Robinson has planned and published family events for each month during this school year that you can find below. CDR says, “We hope to see you there!”
