SPRINGFIELD – Centennial Elementary School celebrated its 60th birthday on Nov. 8 with a bingo night for students and families. The elementary school has been around since 1964 and has spent years connecting its community with the school. Diane Peterson, Centennial PTO volunteer and mom of two students at the school, described the event as a joyful celebration.
“We love our school community, and it was cool to have support from the wider community there too,” Peterson said. Winco Foods donated cupcakes for the celebration and multiple other elementary school mascots came to sing to Jay Jay the Centennial bluejay mascot a happy birthday. There were also old yearbooks documenting the history of the school.
Peterson described the Centennial community as having a great bond and building “togetherness.”
“I have two kids at Centennial, a third grader and a kindergartner, and it’s been a really great start to their early education,” she said.
Peterson started her involvement in the school’s PTO when her oldest was a kindergartner and enjoyed the positivity of the community. Last school year she was able to help organize a plant sale to fundraise for the school. This weekend the school and PTO is also hosting a “Donut and Drop off” where community members can drop off their bottles and cans in exchange for a donut. Peterson said in the past these kinds of fundraisers have paid for classroom supplies and an air conditioner.
“Things that make the learning experience better for the kids and the teachers, is what the funds go to,” she said.
The fundraisers and community involvement are what Peterson said she hopes to continue to create.
