The Spirit of Christmas Takes Over the Boyd County Early Childhood Academy
Sasha Bush
The Ashland Beacon
This past Friday, children of all ages had quite the surprise when they got to their classrooms at Boyd County’s Early Childhood Academy, which is also currently housing the students of Canonsburg Elementary as they await the renovations of their school to be completed.
William Boblett, Superintendent of the Boyd County Public Schools, welcomed each child with a high-five as they all filed one by one into the gymnasium. Signs of Christmas were all-around, from the festively decorated Christmas trees to the Christmas-themed pajamas each child was wearing. Christmas was in the air, and these kids were ready to take part in some Christmas cheer.
Once the children were nestled all snug in the gym, it was time for the festivities to begin. Mr. Boblett was eagerly excited to share one of his most beloved Christmas stories with the children… The Polar Express! The children met Boblett’s excitement with their own as Boblett began to read this favorite Christmas pastime. Looking around the gymnasium, all you could see were children laughing and smiling as they listened to Boblett read through the pages of the book.
Mr. Boblett shared, “I just love that I was able to visit all the students today and that they were able to come together and celebrate the magic of Christmas. This is a time of year that is just so magical for kids. This has just been an awesome experience and having the opportunity to read to them was so much fun and honestly by far the highlight of my year. I am just happy to be able to send them off on Christmas break with some holiday cheer.” Another thing that Boblett was excited about was the fact that not only did he get to share one of his favorite Christmas stories with the students, but the children were also able to hear some sweet Christmas music by the lovely and talented Holly Forbes.
I am sure by now we have all heard the name Holly Forbes. This unique songbird stole the hearts of the entire nation as she belted out tune after tune on the hit TV show, The Voice. Forbes shared that it was such a blessing to be able to come to the school and share some good ole’ Christmas jams with the students. In fact, the moment was made even more special as Forbes had her son Oliver right beside her as she sang. It was sweet to witness as the children hung on to every word of Forbes’ songs, often singing right along with her. Forbes told the children, “I am so pleased to be able to come and sing for you all.”
Stephanie Lyons, Director of the Boyd County Early Childhood Academy, shared a glimpse into just a few of the exciting ways Boyd County Early Childhood Academy has gotten into the Christmas spirit, “We have just been in Christmas mode all week long here at school. We started out with our festival of trees last Friday. We had a lot of families come out for that and it was just wonderful. We had lots of Christmas-themed arts and crafts. In fact, all the trees at our festival of trees were decorated with ornaments that were made by our students. We even had our high school’s band come out yesterday and do a special concert for us full of Christmas music, and then of course, Mr. Boblett reading to the children and the wonderful Christmas music by Holly Forbes. This all just went so well with our music study this month, and we are just so excited to share the spirit of Christmas with everyone.”
