We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
During their final week of school, Zurich Elementary School students were the recipients of a hydrangea art lesson presented by Mrs. Colleen Overcast. Their objective was to celebrate Spring Remembrance. BACK ROW: Letty Perry, Tela Garcia, Kyleejai Baird, Kenzie MacLeod, Kinsley Parsons, and Ruthie Boyce. MIDDLE ROW: Lyric Baird, Ryder Williams, Kinley Jonart, Eloise Gonzalez, and Jameson Grieve. FRONT ROW: Evan Grieve, Anna Caballero-Popchoke, Robert Boyce, Winter Garcia, Oscar Gonzalez, and Remi Perry.
On their last day of school, students received Zurich Bulldog t-shirts, compliments of Buhmann Honey and Apiaries. BACK ROW: Kyleejai Baird, Kinsley Parsons, Letty Perry, Ruthie Boyce, Tela Garcia, Kenzie MacLeod, and Rob Buhmann. MIDDLE ROW: Winter Garcia, Lyric Baird, Eloise Gonzalez, Jameson Grieve, and Ryder Williams. FRONT ROW: Remi Perry, Robert Boyce, Anna Caballero-Popchoke, Evan Grieve, and Oscar Gonzalez.
With school ending on May 22, the last week for Zurich Elementary School students was packed with activity. From a creative art project on May 20 to an end of the year trip to Zurich Park for a picnic lunch on May 22, students ushered out the 2026 school year. In between those two bookend events, Librarian Savanna Brown held a final Accelerated Reader (AR) Mad Hatter Tea Party on May 21.
The theme for Wednesday's art project was Spring Remembrance. Mrs. Colleen Overcast, who retired from teaching at Zurich Elementary School in 2025, led the students in making hydrangeas using soap bubbles mixed with paint. She also invited them to reflect on their 2025-2026 days by listing their favorite activities and memories from the past year.
About her presentation, Overcast explained that the hydrangea art was an idea from Pinterest. She led students in creating mixtures of roughly two tablespoons of water, one tablespoon of acrylic paint, one tablespoon of dish soap, and a drop or two of food coloring. After stirring the ingredients together, students used straws to gently blow bubbles above the tops of the cups containing each mixture. Next, they set their paper on the bubbles to transfer a design.
"We used red solo cups of pinks, blues, and purples. They drew, colored, and cut out leaves and glued it all into bouquets. They also made a list of their favorite things/events from this school year and glued that to the back," Overcast shared.
"The Zurich teachers are kind enough to let me show up when I need a 'kid fix' since missing kiddos is the down side of retirement," Overcast reported. "Shirley Fisher in Cleveland let me teach an art project and break a piñata with her students on Cinco de Mayo. I really enjoy dropping in, collecting hugs, and giving the teachers a well-deserved break."
For Thursday's AR affair, Ms. Brown created a Mad Hatter Tea Party with some activities inspired by Lewis Carroll's stories. The games included a "Down the Rabbit Hole" obstacle course, a "Painting the Roses Red" relay race, and a "Tea Cup" stacking race. In order to "gain entrance" to the party, students who met their reading goals for the month needed to find four things: a Mad Hatter hat that they had previously decorated, a White Rabbit pocket watch, a "Drink Me" sign, and an "Eat Me" placard. These ticket items had been hidden around the school for students to locate. Once all the games had been completed, students sat down for "tea" (pink lemonade) and cookies and got to take home their tea cups to memorialize the celebration.
Another end-of-year event took place at 9:00 on Friday morning, May 22. Rob Buhmann, who owns Buhmann Honey and Apiaries, visited the school and received gratitude and handshakes from students. Buhmann's business had purchased and donated Zurich Bulldog t-shirts, which students were wearing that day. Following interaction and a photo shoot with Buhmann, students continued with their daily schedules before relocating to Zurich Park for an outdoor lunch with parents and time to play. K-2 students departed around 10:00 and were followed by grades three and up. All of the students walked to the park for this annual trip.
