School shares sweet surprise for students

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  • First-grader Hailey Lopez, a remote student at Andrews Elementary School, got to tour the school with her teacher, Sandy Faggard, on Dec. 16 and see her school decorated as Candy Land. Photo by Samantha Sinclair
    First-grader Hailey Lopez, a remote student at Andrews Elementary School, got to tour the school with her teacher, Sandy Faggard, on Dec. 16 and see her school decorated as Candy Land. Photo by Samantha Sinclair
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    Andrews – When students entered Andrews Elementary School on Dec. 10, their eyes were filled with joy.
    That’s because the day before, which was a remote learning day for all students, teachers gathered projects they had been working on and turned the school into Candy Land.
    “We wanted it to be a surprise for when the kids came in Thursday morning,” Principal Sarah Tatham said. “To see them walk in was amazing.”
    Tatham said the project was coordinated by Sam Cross, the school’s Parent Teacher Association president and an AmeriCorps volunteer.
    Each hallway or grade is a specific location on the game board, with large decorations setting the scene. There’s the Peppermint Forest, Gumdrop Mountain and the Lollipop Woods, as the colorful game spaces wind through the building. The child-size game pieces can be found on the wall near the gym.
    Teachers used a variety of items to make the game come to life – sponges, pool noodles, spray foam and even laundry baskets.
    Tatham’s favorite spot in the school is the Lollipop Woods. “I like the colors,” she said. “I really do.”
    As students don’t get to wander the school as much as they used to, each class was given the opportunity to tour the entire school on a schedule to maintain distance from each other.
    Tatham said she would like to decorate the school for the holidays every year, but wasn’t sure if the theme would change. She added that Candy Land did make sense with the design of the school’s hallways, as well as the teachers’ ability to tie-in activities that went along with both the theme and curriculum.
    “I dread the day we have to take it all down,” Tatham said.

See more photos of Andrews Elementary' Candy Land on Instagram