Grant Bowler students perform at May Day

By ELISE DALLEY

The Progress

Anticipation was palpable in the air as students of Grant M. Bowler Elementary school came to the MVHS Gym for the annual May Day dance festival on Friday, May 3.

Students from grades Pre-K through 5th grade had spent weeks hard at work to learn their dances and performances for the big event.

There was a large turnout as parents and community members flocked together to support their students.

This year, there was a bit of a different order to things. The festival was split into two sessions. In the first session grades 1, 5, pre-kindergarten, and kindergarten performed. Then there was a 45 minute intermission to reset things for the next session which included performances from the other grade levels at the school.

The 5th graders braided the MayPole, in accordance with tradition. They expressed their patriotism as they all dressed in red, white and blue as part of their costumes.

The Early Childhood Education kids came out dressed in patriotic attire. They impressed the audience with “This Land is Your Land.”

Another long-time tradition was performed by the kindergarten kids who showed their families some cool tricks they had learned with colorful parachute fabric. They would lift the parachutes high in the air and then pop inside of the parachute and out of sight from the crowd, giggling the whole time.

The 1st graders dressed in a 50’s fashion with poodle skirts, rolled up blue jeans, t-shirts and sunglasses, dancing to the song “Yakety Yak.”

Then poles were brought out for the 4th grade to perform a rhythmic dance which was called “Tinikling.”
The Mexican Hat dance was performed by the 2nd graders. The girls sported colorful skirts flowing around the room and boys had sombreros.

From the youngest pre-K students to the oldest fifth graders, each and every child gave it their all and seemed to have a good time.

5th grader Kate Terril stated, “I had fun braiding the MayPole. It is always funny to see how it turns out when the parents come down to do it with us.”

The event was very well attended. “Last year we had about 2,000 people and we ran out of seats,” said Bowler principal Kelby Robison. “So this year we tried to split it to make room for plenty of seats.”

This decision proved to be wise as the extra seats were needed. It was estimated that approximately 1,500-1,700 people were in attendance at each session.

Robison expressed gratitude for the community support “It’s great that so many family members, community members, and friends come out to support the kids,” he said. “Because they were so excited to show everybody their dances.”

Bowler PE teacher Paula Dehner worked with the kids in preparation for their performances and Robison gave her ample praise. “Mrs Dehner did so much work!” he said. “She put her heart and soul into it and it turned out really well.

“It takes a lot of staff to support this event,” Dehner said after the event. “We couldn’t have done it without them. It was just great.”

Along with the traditional May Day dances, there was also a raffle drawing to helps support the school. The proceeds went towards getting the school’s Girls Robotics Team to the National Championship in California.