Written by Sydney Church and Olivia McCray |
Every year, Joel School Spanish teacher Maria Moran organizes a Three Kings Day celebration where Morgan students volunteer to dress up as the Three Kings and visit the kindergarteners at Joel. This year on Thursday, January 11, six Morgan students suited up and walked the halls in the spirit of Three Kings Day.
The six students who volunteered this year were juniors Sydney Church, Garrett Johnson, Erin Lindsay, Olivia McCray, Chelsea Piccirillo, and Kitty Shortt. Morgan’s World Language Program Chair Laura Luther, who recruits the students for the event, opens up the opportunity to her AP Spanish classes. She said, “It’s honestly excellent because the looks on the kids’ faces are absolutely priceless: can’t be bought or sold”.
The Morgan students who participated were all very excited to surprise the kindergarteners. Prior to the event, Chelsea Piccirillo said, “I’m really excited because I remember seeing the three kings when I was in Joel. When I found out I could volunteer, I said yes, remembering how special the experience was to me”.
At the end of the day the six Morgan students drove over to the elementary school and met with Mrs. Moran to go over the plan for the day and prepare their costumes. The six students split up into two groups of three to be able to visit all 8 of the kindergarten classes before school let out at 3:30. The day was a big success, sparking a reaction from Mrs. Moran who said, “I had told the Morgan students, who portrayed the Kings, that we would be going in to some Kindergarten classrooms for a visit, and that the students would be extremely shocked to have kings walking into their classroom, even though they were expecting them. The Morgan students did such a great job relating to our young students. By the end of each classroom visit, the kindergarteners were crowding around the Kings for high fives and posing for pictures. The Kings really made their day!”
To learn more about past Three King’s Day celebrations and the Spanish culture behind the holiday visit the article Three Kings Day With Morgan