UP Elementary Celebrates 100 Days of Learning

Kindergartners at University Park Elementary grew up fast during their first 100 days of school based on the canes and glasses they brought to campus on Jan. 31.

But with age came wisdom. And for the kindergartners, that called for a 100^th Day of School celebration designed to reinforce key math concepts they’ve studied this year.

University Park’s youngest students have been working hard on grouping and place value, which can be tricky to understand, explained principal Kim Banuelos.

“The hope is to build a memory for them, like a core memory,” she said. “So that whenever they think of this day, not only will it give them a fun memory of kindergarten, but it will also build that deeper memory of math knowledge.”

Kindergartners celebrated their 100^th Day of School with a variety of activities. Some students came dressed as if they were 100 years old, while others wore “100^th Day Hero Capes,” or shirts decorated with 100 puff balls.

The number 100 was featured in lessons throughout the day. Students in Jenessa Brunette’s class wrote sentences about what they will do when they are 100 years old, which she posted on the wall underneath aged photos of them. In their writing, students imagined their older selves eating ice cream and candy, watching shows, and playing golf. 

The kindergartners also completed books of 100 words, and made “100 Days Smart” hats that were adorned with 10 strips of paper, each containing 10 dots.

In other classrooms, lessons included building with 10 groups of 10 Legos, and constructing towers with 100 cups.

Kindergartner Lively Johnston, who came dressed as “Granny Lily,” said her favorite activity to learn about the number 100 had been making Froot Loop necklaces. “It was pretty fun,” she said. “And your extras, you got to eat.”

Kindergarten teacher Melissa Groshans, who came dressed as the much older Dolores, joined her spry but elderly-looking students in dancing to a counting song.

“It’s a big deal for them to be 100 days smarter, that much closer to first grade,” she said. “I just want them to be able to remember it, to look back on kindergarten, and think the fun things that we did.”