A parade and a costume contest were the highlights of Character Day as teachers and students assumed new identities all in the name of fun.
About 80 percent of the students dressed up or wore costumes, with princesses being popular among the girls and action and Marvel Books heroes being a hit with the boys. The students also staged a parade inside the East Campus building as those who were in regular student uniforms cheered them on. “One student who was standing beside me; he was so excited and was jumping around like the characters were real,” said East Campus Director Gayle Voltz.
Similar Character Day activities occurred at the Southwest and Northeast campuses on a day that was not designated as a Halloween Party even though the event occurred on Oct. 31. Staff joined the fun as they dressed up, too.
During an after school party for Varnett employees, Ms. Lilliana Lira, a PreK-4 teacher, won first place dressed as Juliet from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Ms. Ana Palacious, a PreK aide, was second as Catwoman and Shonte' Hamlett, another PreK-4 teacher, finished third. She dressed as Athena, the goddess of wisdom in Greek mythology.
Ms. Lira said she got the idea for her costume after attending the Texas Renaissance Festival in Plantersville recently. "I came back and showed my students what I brought back from the festival. Then I decided, you know what, I'll show them the outfit."
Character Day allows students to have a good time choosing costumes and coordinating with their friends in themed outfits, according to a description by ehow.com. The variety of characters is endless and the only limitation to creating a costume is imagination.
The event came less than a week after staff participated in Carnival Day at all three campuses, where staff worked hard to organize the five-hour event that featured hundreds and hundreds of students and their family members.
Top photo: PreK-4 teacher Lilliana Lira (left), dressed as Juliet, had the best costume among staffers at East Campus as voted by a three-judge panel.