Event transforms students and families
Mianna Garcia, left, an elementary student, and her cousin Kendall Meese, a student at Claymont Middle School, show their school pride at the Mustang Mania event.
Mustang Mania included food, games, facility dogs and even a visit from Bumblebee the Transformer. The event for all Claymont Middle School students and their families was held recently at the school.
Mustang Mania began in 2019 and was a success. This is its third year back after the pandemic.
“We wanted to find a way to interact with our family members and our community,” said Alisha Mahaffey, an ELA teacher at CMS. “We feel like middle school sometimes gets put to the wayside, and those family nights kind of go away, but we still think they’re important for our families to come and see what’s going on and then also to interact with our community too.”
All the food was donated by businesses in the Twin City, as well as the door prizes that were given out. Many resources were available from a variety of nonprofit organizations.
“We also have all of our community partner tables that some of our families know about and some don’t. Just knowing these resources are available is super important,” Mahaffey said.
Students had their cards stamped at each table and turned them in to be eligible for door prizes.
“We really stressed this being a family night. We wanted parents and family members here with their students, which is just great to see,” Mahaffey said.
The event was one of the biggest ones yet, with more community partners and more than 200 students and their families attending for a total of more than 500 people.
With the exception of drink trailer vendors outside the school and a display of Mustang merchandise, the entire event was free to attend.
“Families can come have dinner, do activities, win prizes, and it’s just a nice night without having to pay anything, which is a rarity,” Mahaffey said.
Ember donated the money to have the Bumble Bee Transformer visit.
“They had somebody who had seen him at a previous event, and they’re like, ‘We need this at Mustang Mania.’ That’s been awesome,” Mahaffey said.
The event is a taste of the community too, with many food businesses donating to the free dinner.
“We’re a small community, but we have so much to offer,” Mahaffey said.
Games, face painting, rock painting, balloon twisting and some of the students’ work were on display in the gym.
“Those are just some examples of things that are going on in the classroom for our parents to be able to see,” Mahaffey said. “We also have our group pumpkins, which we do every year. All of our extracurricular clubs, like Student Council, Power of the Pen, create a pumpkin that represents their group.”
Mahaffey thanked the students who helped with the event too.
“The kids are a really big part of this night too. They helped me set up everything; they helped make the flyers. Our Student Council was a huge help,” Mahaffey said.
Programs at the school were featured too, like Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports. The program has led to an improvement in behavior in the past nine to 10 years it has been implemented.
“The whole point of PBIS is reteaching poor behavior when we see it. It’s always helpful to reteach what we want them to do when we see what they’re doing wrong,” said Michele Henry, assistant principal at CMS.
She also credited another program implemented by Susan Monticelli, school counselor, called Mindful Music.
“We do Mindful Music in the morning for two to three minutes, and it’s not meditating, but it’s just getting all of the kids on the same page at once. The whole building is quiet. We listen to the music quietly, and there was a point where we were having some behavior issues in the afternoon, so we started doing the Mindful Music in the morning and in the afternoon, and that brought our discipline write-ups down in the afternoon,” Henry said.
When a student is caught doing something good or kind, they get a positive office referral. Students’ names are announced, and they receive a prize. The students follow CARE guidelines, and they are posted throughout the school.
“C is cooperation for when you follow the rules and work together. A is for accountability and is accomplishment, assignments and to accept consequences. R is respect, and it is listening while others are talking, using manners and use technology appropriately. E is to ask for help when needed and always do your best,” said Kendall Meese, a sixth-grader at the school.
Aside from Bumblebee, Claymont High School facility dog Audrey and Claymont Middle School facility dog Poet put in an appearance. They help students deal with stress and anxiety.
“They really have a big impact,” said Maggie Lesiecki, a senior at Claymont High School.
Food sponsors were Pangrazio’s, Rockside, El Pueblito, Ginger’s Home Bakery, Dennison Yard, Claymont, Asetta Bread Company, Domino’s, Papa John’s, East of Chicago, Deersville, Lucky Wok and Nicole’s Sweet Treats.
Prizes were donated by The Flower Garden, Two Cute Creation, Cutie Pie Customs, Stepping Stones, Good Buys, Village of Dennison, Allure Studio, Camry C Fitness, MHS Hardware, Furniture Warehouse, Moravian Trail Co., Raya’s Tanning, Pin Drop Shop, Texas Roadhouse, Mrs. Newton and Timi’s Café.
The outdoor Mustang Mania sign was from Lacey’s Party Pac.