Waverly Students Celebrate 100 Days of School with Fashion Show

To most of us, Feb. 25 might have seemed like any other day. For Waverly students, however, it was cause for celebration. 

On Tuesday, Eastchester’s K-1 students commemorated the 100th day of the school year with a host of fun activities that highlighted the work they have been doing in the classroom and the bonds they have formed with their friends and teachers since September. 

Unique events like the “100-cup Challenge”—which saw Danielle Mariano’s students team up to build impressive towers—were scheduled throughout the day, as students and teachers found inventive ways to acknowledge the moment.

The biggest event of the day may well have been the afternoon Fashion Show, which saw first-grade classes hit the runway to show off the festive outfits they have been putting together over the last two weeks to celebrate the milestone day of instruction in Eastchester’s schools.

Lisa Michalak launched the Fashion Show in 2022 and has seen the event grow in the ensuing years, as more first-grade classes have joined in to turn this once-small acknowledgment of the day into a true community-building event. 

Students strode assuredly down the second-floor hallway clad in snazzy outfits adorned with reminders of the day’s importance—some students donned shirts with 100 gum-ball stickers, others had clothes featuring donuts covered in 100 multi-colored sprinkles—but one thing was constant: each youngster was sporting an ear-to-ear smile.

“Each teacher has their own special activities for the 100th day, and this seemed like a great way to build excitement for what we’ve been doing,” said Michalak. “And as an educator, it’s really a surreal moment when you see all of the genuine excitement for this day; it’s beautiful and heartwarming to see all the kids coming together as a community.”

Michalak thanked first-grade parents for their assistance with the event, noting that the students have spent the last two weeks working on their outfits at home using the skills they have been acquiring in the classroom, such as pattern-recognition, counting, and grouping. 

But those skills—which will be so vital for the youngsters throughout their lives—are only a part of the equation. Michalak also noted that celebrating the skills the students are acquiring is an important part of early-elementary education and can serve to excite the youngsters about learning in general.

“The concept of ‘100’ is an important one for the children to learn, and this all starts with the standard aligned activities in the classroom, like counting, place value, and number patterns,” she said. “But it goes beyond academics with all the joy the children show; it’s a celebration of how much they’ve grown since September and how much more confident they are now.”