Novalee Roberts, a third grader at Myakka City Elementary, is eager to participate in the Tape the Principal (Carol Ricks) event.
Photo by Madison Bierl
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For Carol Ricks, the principal at Myakka City Elementary School, her best ideas and visions come in the middle of the night.
Ricks is always looking for ways to get students motivated and have fun.Â
With the school year wrapping up, Myakka City Elementary School hosted its first "Jump a Bucket" assembly May 27 to celebrate students' success and growth shown on the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking.
Five activities were showcased — Teachers and Staff Get Inked, Balloon Bump Dance Party, Tacky Fashion Show, Tape the Principal and Slime the Principal.
Ricks said it was important to give recognition to the students who scored the highest, and also to those who showed the most growth.Â
Interim Assistant Principal Leslie Jones said the event was a good mix of incentives, physical prizes, and experiences.Â
"We did a lot of things that were experiences that showed a sense of our community," Jones said. "The kids were motivated by wanting to tape Mrs. Ricks or wanting to see their favorite adults in a fashion show."Â
Paraprofessional Veronica Young, Media Specialist Elizabeth Harris and Special Education Resource Teacher Faith Piper were among the models for the fashion show.Â
"It’s moments like these that remind me how special these kids truly are and how much happiness they bring into our lives every single day," Young said.Â
"The students’ excitement picking out clothes and making us wear it was contagious," Harris said. "It made the culmination of all of our effort worth it to see their happy faces."Â
Maclin Seguin and Bristol Zadai, first graders at Myakka City Elementary, try to keep the balloons in the air for the Balloon Bump Dance Party.
Photo by Madison Bierl
Presley Baldwin, kindergartener at Myakka City Elementary, seems to be the #1 fan of the Tacky Fashion Show during the Jump a Bucket event.
Photo by Madison Bierl
Faith Piper, special education resource teacher, says the fashion show was a great way to bring the school community together to celebrate student progress.
Photo by Madison Bierl
Representing second grade are Chloe Erickson, teacher Kera Picker and Sage Dodge who take a moment to appreciate their outfit before revealing it to the crowd.
Photo by Madison Bierl
Interim Assistant Principal Leslie Jones and Principal Carol Ricks have extra help from Jose Mendieta-Ramirez and Reed Robinson who are acting as "Principals for the Day" after showing the most growth in English and math.
Photo by Madison Bierl
Kindergarten Teacher Allie Sullivan, PE Coach Joe Szewczyk and Math Teacher Melissa Spencer are all tatted up to represent the student growth in English language.
Photo by Madison Bierl
Paraprofessional Veronica Young, third graders Samantha Coleman, Sherlyn Ambrosio-Vargas, Dakota Bryant and Third Grade Teacher Morgan Smith make their way down the runway during the Tacky Fashion Show.
Photo by Madison Bierl
Kindergartener Bryndle Anderson says keeping the balloons in the air for the Balloon Bump Dance Party was quite easy and he appreciates the different colors of the balloons.
Photo by Madison Bierl
Third grade students Winston Walauskis, Braelyn Rhodes, Abygail Rincon-Garcia, PE Coach Joe Szewczyk, Luis Posso and Novalee Roberts prepare to reveal their outfit to the crowd during the Tacky Fashion Show.
Photo by Madison Bierl
Kindergarten students Aliyana Consuegra, Cody Ayers, Lincoln Armstrong and Lyly Cottrell-Billiter are responsible for the outfit worn by Interim Assistant Principal Leslie Jones as part of the Tacky Fashion Show.
Photo by Madison Bierl
Carol Ricks, principal at Myakka City Elementary, says the point of the Jump a Bucket event was to motivate the students and take the anxiety out of the equation while test taking.
Photo by Madison Bierl
Kindergarten students Jackson Huber, Weston Whalen and Melody Meza-Garcia are responsible for dressing Media Specialist Elizabeth Harris as crazy as possible.
Photo by Madison Bierl
The fifth grade students, who earned a level three or above on the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking for science, are able to slime Principal Carol Ricks.
Photo by Madison Bierl
Penny Seguin, a third grader at Myakka City Elementary, is excited to take home a stuffed cat as a prize because most cats are cuddly and nice.
Photo by Madison Bierl
Kinley Lucas, a kindergarten student at Myakka City Elementary, chose a Sonic Squishmallow as her prize at the Jump a Bucket event.
Photo by Madison Bierl
Riley Shewbridge and Brantley Farchette, first graders at Myakka Elementary, celebrate their win for house Equus. Out of the four houses, they earned the most points throughout second semester.
Photo by Madison Bierl
Veronica Young, a paraprofessional at Myakka City Elementary, says it is moments like this that remind her how special the kids are and how much happiness they bring to her.
Photo by Madison Bierl
Joel Diaz-Alverado and Michael Garcia-Mijangos, fourth graders at Myakka City Elementary, follow the line during the fashion show.
Madison Bierl is the education and community reporter for the East County Observer. She grew up in Iowa and studied at the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University.
