Holly Days at Barnett Elementary

Holly Days at Barnett is set for Friday, Dec 6, from 6 to 9 pm, when Barnett Elementary School will be transformed into a winter wonderland filled with holiday cheer. There will be pictures with Santa, musical performances by the students, local vendors selling holiday gifts, food trucks, a silent auction for baskets made by each classroom, and face painting. The 5th and 6th-grade classes will also be selling treats and warm drinks to raise money for their field trips. Holly Days is a community event; all are invited to enjoy, and it is free to attend.

Children's voices will be ringing out with cheerful melodies as each grade level will delight their families with two festive songs inside the multi-purpose room. The performance schedule is:

• TK/K: 6:15-6:25
• 1st: 6:40-6:50
• 2nd: 7:05-7:15
• 3rd: 7:30-7:40
• 4th: 7:45-7:55
• 5th: 8:00-8:10
• 6th: 8:15-8:25

Barnett Elementary PTA President Jaime McGilvray says the pictures with Santa and festive face painting will be available for purchase at the front desk ticket booth the night of the event (6-8 pm). Various specialty crafts and local vendors will line the main wings of the school with fun items for sale. Some of the vendors are also Barnett families.

Each classroom's room parent(s) were asked to come up with a theme and collect donations from their classroom families to create a wonderful basket that will be silently auctioned off during the event. This is a great way to get families involved in helping raise funds for the PTA, which helps enrich the lives of the students and their families by providing fun school events, teacher and classroom support, and a large gift to the school at the end of the year. As a new tradition this year, room parents were also asked to collaborate and decorate the hallways outside their children's classrooms with a theme related to what song that grade level will be singing.

The 5th-grade students will be selling caramel apples, apple cider, and bottled water. The caramel and apples were donated by Julian Apple Pie Co. The 6th-grade students will be selling hot chocolate and hot coffee. These students are raising funds for the various field trips that they have planned throughout the year, like Biz Town and 6th-grade camp. A wide variety of food vendors, including Outlaws BBQ, Cowbell, Tacos de Isaac, EZ Kettle Corn, and Nomadic Pizza Trolley, will also be lined up to serve our hungry families during this fun event.

Holly Days has been a long-standing tradition since 4th/5th grade combo teacher Ms. Hayley Brinker was a student at Barnett. Brinker's mom, Jennifer Brinker, was a part of the group of PTA moms who started this event almost 20 years ago. Historically, this was Barnett's largest event and second-largest fundraiser of the year. During Covid, the event was put on hold, and they were delighted to bring it back in December of 2023. "It is slowly growing back into the large event that it once was."

Brinker, along with McGilvray and Kristen Tripoli, chaired last year's Holly Days event are chairing it this year as well. Other volunteers include Kevin and Laura Justice, Jennifer Brinker, Sharon Ferguson, Heather Howard, Letty Spicuzza, Sonia Thomas, Kelly Arellano, Taryn Irwin, Vivian Carrillo, 3rd grade teacher Tammy Youngdale and her daughter Lily, 5th grade teacher Michelle Wrenn and her daughter Natalie, school nurse Sherry Browning, 6th grade teacher Dallas Meadows, and school administrative assistant Laura Vigneau. McGilvray says teachers, staff, Santa, and the new Principal, Ms. Dodds, will also be in attendance.

"As a mom of four Barnett Bobcats, past and present, this has been my favorite event that the school organizes! It's magical to see our children dressed up and singing festive songs for us that they work so hard on in the months leading up to the big night," says McGilvray. "I absolutely love seeing my kids and their classmates singing!"

Come one and all and join in the splendor and magic of the season!