Last Thursday, the entire student body at Lowell Elementary School marched down the hill and into the Victory Field complex for a day of games and athletic competition.
The Lowell Field Day is a long tradition at the school, but four years ago the fun moved across Orchard Street to Watertown’s track and stadium complex. When the students arrived, they entered in a procession not unlike the Olympics opening ceremony, complete with the Olympic theme song.
The older kids, grades 3-5, took to the track and ran races around the oval, tossed beanbags through holes, tried to kick huge beachballs through hula hoops and more.
Meanwhile, over on the stadium side, the younger children (in K-2) had relays around the bases of the baseball diamond, played a parachute, attempted to transport water in cups several yards without spilling and tossed rubber chickens.
Lowell Principal Stacy Phelan looked over the hundreds of kids at play around her, enjoyed the nice weather.
“The day couldn’t be better,” Phelan said.
She could not take credit for putting the field day together. The whole event is a major logistical undertaking, lead by Lowell physical education teachers Eileen Donahue and Tina Loguidice. And they got a lot of help, Donahue said.
“I am very thankful to our staff to spend the whole day here, and to the parents who came to hand out water and participate,” Donahue said.
While the older grades compete for ribbons, competition the focus for the younger students, Loguidice said. The younger kids still split up into teams.
“Each class is broken into four teams: red, yellow, blue, green,” Loguidice said. “At each station there are red, yellow blue and green cones.”
The PTO delivered oranges, water and snacks, and Donahue also got a helping hand from more than a dozen Watertown High School students.
Watertown High School senior Maddie Leitner participated in field day when she was at Lowell. She likes to come back and lend a hand.
“It’s fun to come back and the kids are so cute,” Leitner said.
Senior Sydney Poulin said she is not sure if the students think they are high school students or teachers.
“They listen to us, which is good,” Poulin said.