“One of the things we focused on was keeping participation high,” said May Festival Coordinator Kay Larsen. “We cut the parking fee from $10 to $5, and many of the auction items and things were priced to encourage participation from students and parents.”
The weekend of merriment coincided with an alumni celebration focusing on the Class of 1999, said Glen Baker, the academy’s high school principal.
Iris Ferrando, a sixth-grade teacher, said the academy and May Festival has changed little since she graduated in 1976. She and her class emptied out the 750 egg shells and filled them with confetti, one of many campus traditions. Others include a jail in which it costs $1 for every 15 minutes a student wishes to keep their friend behind bars, a rubber-duck toss, milk toss and Plinko, similar to the popular “The Price is Right” game.
“She put me in jail,” third-grader Cheyenne Stephens said, pointing and sneering at her pal, Alyssa Danlag.
“No, I was pretending,” Alyssa retorted.
“It doesn’t matter, you’re going to jail,” said Cheyenne, ushering her to a large wooden playhouse designed after a prison cell.
Students redeemed tickets awarded at gaming booths for prizes such as toys, stuffed animals and board games. Tenth-graders Violet Lee and Joseph Hearn served as burger vendors, hoping to raise money for their senior trip. Ferrando’s class charged $1 per egg and will use the money for an end-of-year field trip to a local amusement park.
While the two agreed that they had long outgrown their days of scampering with the herd, which moved in unison from one activity to another, both looked back fondly on their festival experiences.
“It’s a great bonding experience for us,” Violet said.
“This is the place where we grew,” Joseph said. “It’s like home to a lot of the students.”
