Students at Lincoln School of Science and Technology on Friday were released from their classrooms at 1:45 p.m.
By 2 p.m., when they reentered the building for the "One School, One Book" literacy event, their school had completely transformed into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, complete with Principal Garrett Olguin as the man himself - Willy Wonka.
But he wasn't the only one that got into the sweet spirit. Teachers dressed as characters from the book too. From the Oompa Loompas to Violet Beauregarde to Veruca Salt, everyone was involved in making the chocolate factory come to life.
"I don't know if it's the teachers or the kids who are more excited," Olguin said prior to Friday's event.
It seems he was right about that. The school was buzzing on Friday, with kids and parents bustling around to make it to each themed classroom before the factory closed its doors for the day. Classrooms were converted into some of the most famous rooms from Willy Wonka's factory, and each location had a game for kids to play before hustling on to the next space.
This is the second year Lincoln School has held the "One School, One Book" Literacy event, which started in early April. Through this program, every student, teacher, and staff member in the building was provided with a copy of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl, which the students selected by vote earlier in the year.
Throughout April, the assigned reading was completed at home with the student and their family. The following day during morning announcements, students were given a trivia question to answer based on the previous night's reading. The correct answers were then entered into a drawing to win a small bar of Wonka's famous chocolate.
Friday's event was the grand finale of the program. Last year's final event was attended by more than 300 people. On Friday, nearly 500 people walked through the gates of Willy Wonka's famous factory.
Olguin, who has been the principal at Lincoln since the 2019-2020 school year, said hosting this event was always in his plan when he started at Lincoln, but those plans were stalled due to the pandemic. And so far the event has proven that the key to success is student excitement.
"When the kids are super excited, we have success with parents too," Olguin said.
Lincoln Counselor Kirsten Trainor said seeing the excitement of both the kids and adults is her favorite part of the event.
"I really like that it's the entire building reading the book," she said. "Siblings can connect, parents are connecting with their children- just all of the encouragement to read."
Olguin said the event couldn't be possible without the help of the dedicated teachers and staff.
"The teachers deserve a lot of credit for the amount of extra work they're putting in," he said.
Financially, Olguin said the event is made possible by a very involved PTO.
"We are appreciative that we have a PTO that makes this event possible," he said. "And because of fundraisers, PTO has the finances to dedicate to this so it can happen every year."
And based on the response, "One School, One Book" is the golden ticket to a special experience for students, teachers, and parents.
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