SCHOOL CELEBRATES BARBARA BLANCHARD DAY

Students tapped out "Happy Birthday" on drums, teachers danced to the Broadway tune "One" and Blanchard Elementary School principal Barbara Kohlfeld showed her prowess with a hula hoop Friday, all to honor school namesake Barbara Blanchard on her birthday.

Blanchard, who worked 37 years at Washington Elementary School, said Friday was "another emotional day in the life of Barbara Blanchard." Much of the morning was spent hugging her former students and staff and the children she didn't know who just wanted to wish her well on her special day.

"This was a labor of love," Blanchard said following a schoolwide assembly Friday morning. "Nobody could have a better birthday present than this."

Blanchard's birthday is today, but the students and staff worked more than a week preparing for Friday's assembly. Blanchard spent much of the afternoon visiting every classroom in the school, sometimes reading a book, sometimes talking about the box of keepsakes she had donated earlier this year to tell students about her life.

"They are all just so precious," she said. "I had no idea they had planned so much just for me."

Kohlfeld said she hopes to put Blanchard's donations on display in the school's foyer so visitors will see what a remarkable person she was. The birthday celebration will become an annual event, much like May Greene Day, a birthday celebration held annually to honor the namesake of May Greene Elementary School. Kohlfeld said this year's event was especially nice because Blanchard was present. Greene also attended several birthday parties at the school named in her honor after it opened.

"Unfortunately, none of us were able to celebrate Miss May Greene's birthday with her, but we always hoped she was watching us and maybe smiling," Kohlfeld said. "With Mrs. Blanchard, it makes it so much more wonderful that she was here and could enjoy it."

Blanchard Day organizer Mary Ann Lewis agreed. "To get to see her and the joy it brings to her eyes -- that was the fun part," she said.

Lewis and Kohlfeld said the birthday activities were held as much for the children as they were for Blanchard. With the closing of May Greene and Washington schools this year, students need to develop an identity and pride in their new building, they said.

"She's a role model for our school," Lewis said. "Her love for children and her value of education -- it's something wonderful that we can share with them."

"We know the kids are here for school and to get an education, but we also want them to have fun and be able to develop some real memories about their experiences," said Kohlfeld. "The experiences that stick in your brain are things like this."