CENTER – More than 200 people attended the community open house on Thursday, Aug. 15, at the Center Consolidated School District.
The school district hosted the open house with the hope that students would encourage their parents to attend and meet their teachers, and the staff at the school.
The open house had teachers and staff spread out all along the outside of the main buildings, sitting in chairs, with long tables. Dinner was provided for anyone that attended at no charge, featuring hamburgers, chips, water, and cookies.
Students walked all over, socializing with their friends and teachers. There were kids playing football out on the football field. There were kids chasing each other, talking and laughing.
Many parents attended and spoke with teachers and different staff members.
School board president Kimberley Duran said, “This is wonderful, I mean this is just great. I like seeing the football players out there, seeing the parents come in. I know tonight they are giving some prizes; they are giving away T-shirts. Everyone has gotten together tonight to meet the faculty and mingle with parents and students, too. I can’t remember having anything like this when I was younger. I have been here my whole life, and we have never had anything like this. This is really something great for the kids and the faculty and parents. There’s great food here, you can come sit down, talk to everybody at the school, about school. It’s just a really great event that we put on here. The cooks have done a great job with the food for everyone tonight, too.”
Jazmine Pena, a mother with children enrolled in the Center schools, also said the event was great.
“My kids are having a lot of fun. As a mother, it’s nice to see parents coming out, and wanting to meet their kids' teachers and to talk about the upcoming school year. Education is so important to me. I want to make sure that my children get a good education when they go to school. I think this is an important night for first impressions, for parents to really see where the child is going to go to school and get a feel for their teachers. We are having fun and eating dinner and just enjoying the atmosphere tonight. As a parent, it’s nice to see us all here, you can tell so many other parents really care about their children too. This is just wonderful,” she said.
Christine Mikeljack, a teacher in the district, said, “We do this every year, and every year it seems to just grow. There are a lot of parents who come out and meet us all, and I think it just gives them an overall calm outlook for the year ahead for their children. We really enjoy meeting the parents as well. I think this is an important night, and we are very happy with the turnout this evening. We want to thank everyone for coming. We are all happy to participate. Here's to another great school year.”
