BY PATRICIA KELLER
WEST MILFORD — Staff and students at Upper Greenwood Lake Elementary School celebrated May 4th, dubbed “Star Wars Day" by fans of the iconic movies, with a full day of Star Wars-themed lessons and activities.
Transported to a "galaxy" far, far away … in Hewitt, Upper Greenwood Lake students, staff and families were greeted at school on May 4 by Star Wars characters Kylo Ren, played by school Principal Greg Matlosz, and Clone Troopers, played by physical education teacher Daniel Brophy and 5th-grade student Danny Novak.
Novak won the Digital Citizenship Night contest and was rewarded by participate in the morning drop off dressed as a Stormtrooper.
Galactic Empire flags flanked the entrance to the school. An inflatable “Death Star" hung in the foyer outside the main office.
Posters of “Jedi” and “Yoda" created by staff and students decorated the hallways, reminding the young “Padawans" also known as Jedi knights in training, about good character traits.
They were also reminded to tread quietly through the hallways due to PARCC testing being conducted, with a poster that read: “Please remain quiet in this Galaxy, Jedi Knights are battling the PARCC Troopers.”
May the 4th be with you What started as a pun warmly shared by fans has become a full-fledged Star Wars holiday.
Once the internet allowed Star Wars fans around the world to connect with one another, May the 4th soon became a grassroots tradition each year, with fans online and offline proclaiming it “Star Wars Day.”
The Upper Greenwood Lake community embraced their “inner geek" with imaginative, and educationally innovative ideas to enhance typical school-day lessons; and with it, they accomplished an increased level of student involvement, attention, participation in and excitement about classroom discussions.
The lessons were made fun through the creativity of Star Wars-themed lesson plans created by the staff members, that presented the typical course material in a way that was interesting, appealing, and fun for today's youth.
According to Matlosz, activities of the day included the character education lesson- “How to serve like a Jedi,” for which students described how they can help the school and community through volunteerism.
Teachers utilized Star Wars-themed lessons within mathematics, social studies, and science classes throughout the day.
Students in the media center built a replica of the popular R2D2 character from the movie series through the use of a robotics kit.
As students and staff joyfully indulged in their Star Wars Day celebration, the phrase: “May the Fourth be with You,” reportedly started by fans as early as 1979, could be heard repeatedly throughout the hallways of the school that day, as friends and colleagues greeted each other in passing.
May the fourth (and the Force) be with you ... always.