West Elementary hosts ‘Polar Express’ celebration

RUSSELLVILLE — West Elementary School marked the Christmas season with a series of activities centered on music, generosity and long-standing holiday traditions involving students, staff and the community.

One of the school’s signature events is its annual pajama drive, which takes place during the school’s “Polar Express” celebration.

Principal Alicia Stanford said the drive ensures every student is able to participate in Pajama Day, regardless of whether they already own pajamas.

The school collects pajama donations through outreach to local churches, businesses and the community, including posts on social media.

Students who do not have pajamas for the event are offered a pair and are allowed to keep them.

“We want to ensure that all of our students are able to participate,” Stanford said. “We’ve just been unbelievably humbled by the amount of love that’s been poured into our school.”

The Pajama Drive was started several years ago by Jennifer Cox, who served as the school’s reading specialist at the time. The school has continued the tradition after seeing the joy it brought to students.

The drive is part of a larger “Polar Express”themed day that includes hot chocolate, classroom activities and a ride on a trackless train.

The train is brought in by an outside company, and physical education teachers drive students around the school parking lot so each child has an opportunity to ride.

Stanford said students look forward to the event each year and become excited when they see the train arrive on campus.

In addition, West Elementary has held several other Christmas activities throughout the month, including Grinch Day and a 12 Days of Christmas dress-up schedule.

Teachers also decorated hallways and classrooms with themed displays.

Another highlight of the season was the secondgrade Christmas music program, presented last week by the entire secondgrade class.

The program was coordinated by music teacher Emily Rush and featured a mix of familiar holiday songs along with new elements added this year.

Rush said the Christmas program has been a tradition at the school for several years and was originally organized by secondgrade teachers before she took over coordinating it when she arrived at West Elementary five years ago.

While the structure of the program remains similar each year, Rush said she enjoys adding a surprise when possible.

This year’s performance included a group of toy soldier dancers inspired by the Savannah Bananas baseball team. Addie Harbin assisted with choreography for the group.

“It was really fun and really different,” Rush said, adding the boys enjoyed the collaboration.

Preparation for the program began in October, when parents were notified of students’ roles so costumes could be gathered.

Rush coordinated songs and dances across all second-grade classes with classroom teachers helping students practice during the school day.

She said teachers outside of second grade also assisted with the program, helping manage logistics and support students during the performance.

“It takes all of us,” Rush said. “It’s a real team effort.”

Rush said students were excited to perform, noting that for many of them it was the most time they had spent on stage.

“This one is theirs,” she said. “You just never know what you’re going to get with lower elementary kids, but this group was very well behaved and really sweet.”

The program was performed for students’ families, as well as kindergarten and first-grade classes.

Stanford said the Christmas activities at West Elementary reflect the commitment of staff members and the support of the community.

“It’s a very long, very busy time, but they go in with such a positive attitude and such a heart for their children,” she said. “I really appreciate all that they do, and I appreciate the community for supporting our school.”