Golden Apple: 1st Graders Make Memories on Polar Express Day at Nisswa Elementary

Nisswa Elementary held their 8th annual Polar Express Day recently, giving first graders had a fun-filled day at school that they will have a hard time forgetting.

Nisswa Elementary holds one of the most unique experiences a child can have as a first grade student. They get to spend the day in their pajamas, drinking hot chocolate watching and reading the Christmas classic “The Polar Express,” all while putting the skills they have been working on all year to the test.

“They are learning about characters, setting … sequence of events, and it’s a fun, exciting day where we get to really pull it all together for them,” said first grade teacher Anna Carbajal.

After reading the book and watching the movie, the little ones made their way down to the cafeteria to start building their own Polar Express trains. The students were joined by a parent and began to cover their edible trains in just about everything you could think of that contained sugar. The kids dream of this day, and they are not alone.

“I look forward to it every day,” said first grade teacher Lisa Miller. “I even bought festive pajamas to make sure that I was playing the part with it. But it’s just fun for kids to be kids.”

Days like the Polar Express Day are ones that these kids will eventually look back on with great fondness. In making memories that can last a lifetime with friends and parents, it only takes one year for the students be a little envious of the younger students.

“I want to say it gets better every year, just because the excitement throughout the school gets more fun, too. You have kids from other grades that come back and they’re like, ‘Oh, we wish we were here, we wish we were doing it,'” said first grade teacher Erica Hanowski. “Down the hall from us is second grade, and the second grade teachers came in today and they’re like, ‘It’s like the hardest day for us’ because [second graders] walk by like, ‘That’s the best day,’ and it’s fun for the other kids to even hype up the little kids. They get so excited. They’re like, ‘Oh, you’re going to love this day, you know?’ All the memories fall back. So it’s fun to hear that it sticks with them.”