Students, staff, and graduates who have been a part of the Mill Creek Elementary School community over the last 40 years recently gathered to celebrate the school’s milestone anniversary. Click here to see a video.
The festivities kicked-off in the school gym as guests enjoyed performances by the Shawnee Mission Northwest High School jazz band and dance team.
Michelle Lord, principal, welcomed guests sharing that at Mill Creek the community is working together to empower the super hero in every student and to help learners today become leaders tomorrow.
Dr. Mike Fulton, superintendent, congratulated the students and staff on this significant milestone. Michael Boehm, Lenexa mayor, thanked the students for learning about and giving back to their community. He shared that the “Learn About Lenexa” program was originally piloted at Mill Creek. The program engages students to learn about their community to help make improvements and develop great citizens of the future. The Mill Creek PTA helped plan the celebration and donated books to the library to acknowledge the occasion.
Following the assembly guests were invited to visit a variety of activities and demonstrations featuring students throughout the school.
In one classroom, fourth-graders paired up with kindergartners as part of their Book Buddies initiative. As part of this program, kindergartners have the opportunity to gain an older friend and mentor at Mill Creek who they may see throughout the school day. The buddies meet once a month and work on letters or reading. Torry Spencer, teacher, said the fourth-graders gain as much as the kindergartners from the relationships and friendships they build.
“It’s fun to help others,” fourth-grader Nathan Nobacky said.
Students representing some of Mill Creek’s clubs shared displays including STEM, Student Council, Art and Safety Patrol. The STEM club meets every other week and displayed a track, catapult and egg-dropping container.
“I like building and calculating when I work on projects,” Cooper Evans, said. “Even if it doesn’t work the first time, you learn from your mistakes.”
In the cafeteria, Josh Greaves, art teacher, worked on painting rocks with students to brighten the school’s community garden. Every student from kindergarten through sixth grade will have a painted rock in the garden for future Mill Creek students to enjoy.