Sasha Bush
The Ashland Beacon
On December 13, 2022, Charles Russell Elementary School will be hosting a Christmas carnival that will be FREE for all students and their families. The Christmas carnival will begin at 4:30 p.m. and last until 6 p.m. Kerry Bocook, principal of Charles Russell Elementary School shared with the Beacon, “Our staff is hard at work transforming our school into a festive Christmas atmosphere. We have district employees and staff family members volunteering to make our carnival a success. We will also have several students from Ashland Paul Blazer High school to run the games and activities.”
Bocook went on to share that during the Christmas carnival they will offer various activities for everyone to participate in. Among the scheduled activities will be STEM activities, games, photo booth, Christmas cake walk, ornament crafts, Christmas trivia, decorating with Mrs. Claus, hot chocolate with the Polar Express Train Conductor, and you can even have punch with everyone’s favorite Christmas character… THE GRINCH! In addition to all these amazing activities, Charles Russell will also feature a parent education room with useful tips on how to budget for the holidays, as well as sharing family-friendly Christmas recipes.
“This will be held in conjunction with our 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant that funds our after-school program. We have had several donations from community partners such as, Members Choice Credit Union, Tomcat Brewhouse, Ashland Credit Union, Kroger, Tim Hortons on Winchester Ave, Great American Cookies, Middough, The Mill, and Reynald Christy to sponsor our event,” noted Bocook. Prior to becoming the principal, Bocook served as a teacher at Charles Russell Elementary School. “This is my second year as principal of Charles Russell. It has been wonderful to be able to open our doors back up to our families and community after the last few years of Covid restrictions. This has been a big year for our school with the installation of a new playground and kicking off our 21 CCLC after-school program. Over 40% of our students take advantage of this daily program that provides homework help, additional academic support and intervention, as well as offering a variety of enrichment activities, such as character building, Kindness Club, Lego Club, yoga, art, and STEM,” stated Bocook.
Big things are certainly happening at Charles Russell Elementary School. With the school having such a dedicated group of teachers and staff, as well as a community’s support behind them, how could they not continue to do great things? One thing is for sure… everything they do at Charles Russell Elementary School is always with the students’ best interest at the forefront. Heading into the near year, Bocook stated, “We are looking forward to celebrating our students as they grow. We are planning to host more programs and events to share with our families, build our after-school program, add to our playground, and continue to make Charles Russell a great place to learn, grow, and be loved.”