An Unforgettable Night At Lincoln School

!e sixth annual Lincoln School Valentine’s Ball February 10th was another wonderful and memorable evening with more than 450 attending. Pre-K through second grade girls and boys _ many dressed up in fancy, semi-formal attire _ and their Moms, Dads, siblings and other extended family members came to the fun-"lled evening event.

  Lovely and well-planned, the event centered around the decorated gymnasium and featured great music for dancing and colorful lighting effects by DJ Corey Comer. !roughout the evening, Comer played “!e Cupig Shuffle” for everyone to dance to. All Lincoln students were taught the song and dance by Mary Lou Bonnell in their

music classes. Stephanie Joyce’s Pre-Kindergarten pupils; Keara Foley’s second graders and Elaine Erb’s Pre-K students performed the dance on stage at the Farewell Friday assembly Feb. 9th and then invited everyone at the assembly to join them in doing “!e Cupig Shuffle.” Joyce said the whole focus of this is “spreading the love at Lincoln School” like in the book “!e Cupig Shuffle” by Erin Canty.

Kindness arrows, with compliments or kind messages on them, written by students and others, were also posted in the hallways for the Valentine’s Ball so everyone could read them.

Creative Valentine-related arts and craft-making stations for the whole family to participate in when they weren’t in the gymnasium dancing, were set up in various locations throughout the school.

Each year the Valentine’s Ball features refreshments at the “Sweetheart Dinner,” in the cafeteria that include pizza, milk or water and Valentine cookies. All of the refreshments were available free for everyone to enjoy. Milk was donated by Willow Bend Farm in Clifton Springs.

Again this year, there was the very, very popular family photo station arranged for by Joyce, who was a member of the PTA subcommittee that planned the Valentine’s Ball. Joyce’s husband, Karl, who owns New Dimensions Photography, took photos along with Winston Vargas, a retired photographer and grandfather of a Lincoln second grade student. Again this year, the Joyce’s will donate a free 4x6 photo to

those who were photographed. About 36 Newark High School, Newark Middle school students and Lincoln School staff volunteered at the event. At the end of the evening, children were given glow necklaces with a Valentine wish attached to them. !e cost of the entire event, minus the donations of milk, was entirely underwritten by the PTA. !ere was no cost to anyone attending for anything.

Joyce thanked the Village of Newark for arranging to have lights on at the nearby skating rink to provide more illumination for people coming into the school; the NCSD Transportation Department for shuttle bus service to the school from Newark-Wayne hospital for those who parked there and Newark-Wayne Hospital for providing coat racks and a designated parking space for over$ow parking. “I want to thank our (interim) principal Monica Stadler; Bob Mosteiro, our head custodian and his staff for going over and above to help us. We couldn’t do this without them,” Joyce said. “I also want to thank my husband, Karl for photographing and editing the photos; our PTA officers Kathy Eckert and Kari Hamelinck for creating beautiful invitations and RSVP's; Kathy Eckert for her expertise in organizing the craft rooms again this year, and Amanda Lesterhuis, who has a Pre-K student at

Lincoln School, and is an alumni of Mrs. Joyce's 2nd Grade classes. She  was an amazing volunteer coordinator during the evening and the student volunteers were great.”  Stadler, who is the NCSD Assistant Director of Pupil Services and who is temporarily "lling in as principal for Stephanie Miller who is on maternity leave, was delighted with the event. “!e Valentine's Ball is a true labor of love for Mrs. Joyce, the Lincoln PTA, and Lincoln staff.,” Stadler said. “We even had retired staff return to help with this event. !is is a wonderful event for our students and families to gather at Lincoln School to celebrate the season with crafts, dancing, photos, and food.”