Family Spaghetti Dinner + Game Night
By: Dean of Students, Maggie Solis, and Principal, Melanie Smith
“Community is much more than belonging to something: it’s about doing something together that makes belonging matter.”
On January 28th the Williams Elementary School fifth grade student council and staff hosted their school families for a Spaghetti Dinner and Game Night to show their appreciation for the support of their wonderful Williams families! It was a fabulous turnout with about 50 families joining us (136 people) for this special night out.
What a fabulous night it was to all be together and to share in the simple joys of sharing a hot meal and playing favorite board games. We hope that all of our students, staff, and families feel an increased sense of connection and belonging through these shared experiences.
Our gym was filled with families smiling as they engaged in friendly competition with their own family and friends. There were a variety of games on hand and families also brought their household favorite games to share. The best part of the event was our school community enjoying the evening and the opportunity to connect with one another. Special education teacher, Brynn Charest, applied for a grant through Central Maine Educators Consortium to purchase games that were raffled off to families at this event. There were 19 games that were raffled off at the end of the night. Williams Elementary students in attendance received a ticket when they entered the event to place in the cup of the game they hoped to win.
We collected written feedback from families and everyone was happy to share their thoughts on the event both written and in person. Below we have a few statements from just a few of the families who attended. Many, as they walked back by the serving line, said how delicious the food was! Principal, Melanie Smith, and Dean of Students, Maggie Solis, along with Maggie’s mother, Joanne Booth, enjoyed time in the kitchen together preparing food and serving dinner to their students and families. Families were served spaghetti with a choice of homemade meat sauce, tomato sauce, or melted butter. They were also served salad, a dinner roll, and either a delicious chocolate brownie cookie or chocolate chip cookie for dessert. There were full bellies and full hearts after this fun family night! And you can count on us planning more events like this in the future!
Family Feedback:
“It was so well organized, I felt like the kids and adults had a wonderful time. Thank you!”
“Fun family time!”
“How friendly all the staff and children were. They provided a great environment for all!”
“All of it! Good food and great games we haven’t played before. Lot’s of fun!”
“I like how it pulls families together with school time to share in a part of our grandchild’s life who we do not get to see everyday. Thank you for making this possible for us.”
“Everything was delicious and the student council kids were so kind and helpful.”
“Seeing the kids in student council be part of the hard work. Nice to see them waiting to clean and offer their assistance to make sure their ‘customers were satisfied.'”
This event kicked off the school’s annual Great Kindness Challenge week which is a worldwide challenge. We couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the beginning of this beloved week here at Williams. It is always such an uplifting and unifying experience to come together with staff and even our staff’s family members to provide our school community with experiences like this one. We would also like to thank Barb Bonnell, our Nutrition Director for RSU18, for supporting us with this event! Teamwork makes the dream work and being able to provide events like this for our school community to build and strengthen relationships is certainly our dream here at Williams. We have many amazing events coming up this month and we hope to see you at one or more of them!#WeAreRSU18 #WESproud18
