Once upon a time in a faraway school...

Trout Creek School hosts Family Fun Night with literary theme

TROUT CREEK – In a little school, down the stairs inside a brightly painted room, lay a stack of books waiting to be read. The aroma of spaghetti and chocolate-chip cookies hung in the air and a princess in a rainbow dress played with a boy dressed as a mouse as they waited for the festivities to begin.

Students, parents, faculty and volunteers gathered together for Family Fun Night at the Trout Creek School Thursday night. The theme of the evening was fun with reading to go along with February, which is I Love to Read Month and March, which is Dr. Seuss month.

After-School Coordinator and School Secretary Gabrielle Ohning chose the literary theme for the event because of the importance of reading.

“We are trying to get them back into reading because students who read do better in school,” Ohning said.

Every event planned has either an educational or cultural theme, according to Ohning. She said they have had great success in the past. She gave the example of a German-themed event they had. The students learned the geography, culture and language of the country and some of them still use German words even now.

“We are trying to expose them to the world,” Ohning said. “It has a huge impact.”

There were many story-based activities on the agenda for the literary event.

Naturally, there was story time. The attendees enjoyed several books including How do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and If you Give a Mouse a Cookie. The last two stories inspired the cuisine for the event.

Spaghetti was served along with meatballs as the main course. Bread, fruit and veggies were also available. For dessert, little Fletcher Segura donned a mouse costume and handed out cookies to everyone. Then Serenity Barrus, dressed as a character from Frozen, passed out frozen treats. The group seemed to really enjoy the whimsy of the evening.

In addition to story time, the participants played games that went along with the story theme. The first was a game of ad-libs in which the player chooses a series of random adjectives and adverbs to craft a humorous story. The kids laughter echoed down the halls.

Another game played at the event was trivia. A quote would be read and players were meant to guess what book the given quote was from. Some of the quotes were easily identified such as Horton Hears a Who, Charlotte’s Web and Harry Potter. Other quotes were more difficult and hints were given for Clifford the Big Red Dog, Alice in Wonderland and The Giving Tree.

There was also a game where the two players were given a stack of cards with each card containing a word. The objective was to arrange the cards in the correct order before the other person. If correct, the arrangement would be a famous literary quote. Upon completion, the participants learned it was a quote from Dr. Seuss.

Towards the end of the event, while everyone was enjoying their dessert, there was an arts and crafts project. Each individual made their own paper mouse from the story If You Give a Mouse a Cookie to take home with them.

Ohning is able to organize numerous fun and elaborate events for the students thanks to a grant. A couple years ago, the school received the 21st Century Learning Center Grant. The purpose of the grant is to make further enrichment available after school hours for students and Ohning works hard to do just that.

“Our goal is to make [the events] fun and educational,” Ohning said. “We try to put the fun in fundamentals.”

The event was a success and everyone in attendance had a good time. Ohning hopes more will attend the upcoming events because the more the merrier.

On March 17, Ohning is planning to have a karaoke party with the kids from 3:30-5:30 p.m. and parents are encouraged to attend. There will be a talent show on March 20 and on March 25 there will be a family pot luck.