By Linda Delmonico-Prussen
Such little-known historical facts helped bring Old Mill's recent 50th anniversary celebration to life when the school held an open house for community visitors.
This year, Old Mill educators and students are marking five decades of learning at the school by examining not only the 1950s, when the elementary was in its infancy, but also the incredible inventions, famous people, amazing athletes and legendary leaders that arose in the subsequent 50 years.
During the open house, teachers were dressed in 1950s garb. Many women wore sweaters with felt initials for their names, Capri pants, ponytails and silk scarves.
When greeted at Old Mill's entrance by the human-size papier-m‰ch couple of Mr. And Mrs. Potato Head, you could tell the open house would be loaded with fun. Old Mill Road's kindergartners and art teacher Rita Greco created the oversized rendition of these most-celebrated of spuds.
Birthday cakes and cards, a jukebox, and 1950s fashion displays, including a black leather biker jacket, were found throughout Old Mill's halls.
In the gymnasium, a slide show offered history from the past 50 years, including music set to the various eras. Display boards illustrated the '50s, with depictions of Elvis Presley, the cure for polio, the Cold War, Korean War, Hula-Hoops, blue jeans, Levittown, The Cat In The Hat, Sputnik and the Dodgers, first in Brooklyn, then Los Angeles.
Some teachers took a literary approach to marking the school's half-century with displays of Caldecott Medal winners. The Caldecott Medal is an award given to children's picture book illustrators. Teacher Trish Callahan had her third-graders choose Caldecott Medal winner books from 1953 to 2000 and then create dioramas of their favorite illustrations from the books.
Old Mill students also wrote biographies about famous Americans from the past 50 years, including Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, Leonard Bernstein, Roy Rodgers and Alan Shepard.
And students created displays about inventions from the past 50 years, including the Barbie doll, play dough, microwaves and computers.
Teacher Nicole Grota said of the 50th anniversary celebration, It was a really big project" for the students, who worked in groups of three to four for the 1 1/2-month effort. Grota said the children "really had to learn how to research," using books and the Internet.
Parents were impressed by all the students' hard work. Karen
Cederroth said, I think the kids did a nice job.
Loretta Axelrod said, I think it's fantastic."
