by Contributor | July 28, 2012 1:16 pm

A new tradition began at Discovery Day Care – Summer Olympics!
Sparked by a preschool parent, Mr. Balcom, this idea became the highlight of the summer and drew a large crowd of parents and grandparents.

Mr. Balcom, a gym teacher with the East Syracuse School District who enjoys his summers off, created this idea and volunteered his time to prepare and implement this fun filled event for the children.
The planning began in June and excitement grew as the special day got closer.
The children prepared signs, banners, Olympic oriented crafts and learned what the Olympics is all about.

Did you know the colors in the Olympic Rings represent the colors in the flags of all the nations in the world?
To extend the learning, the teaching staff at Discovery Day Care inquired with the parents the nationality of each student and created flags to represent each country.
The hallways were lined with flags from Mexico, France, Scotland, Poland and more.

The children and staff names were added to the flags and they could see how they were connected to each other by their own nationality.
The Olympic events included two distance runs, standing long jump, softball toss and then concluded with an obstacle course that required various skills (from jumping and crawling to throwing and squirting a target).
The audience cheered the children as they participated in each event.
At the end of the DDC Olympics, the children enjoyed a healthy snack and drink and were each awarded a Winner Medal for participating.
Center manager Julie Boyd, challenged the staff to complete the obstacle course and many did just that.

Mr. Balcom was presented with a special certificate for sharing his ideas, time and energy with the children of the center.


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