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Green Gables gets gold at the end of the rainbow

On 4/26/2008

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Contributed by: Stacy Oryshchyn on 4/30/2008

Is there really gold at the end of a rainbow? On April 26, Green Gables Elementary School got their gold in the form of an award. Bo and Stacy Oryshchyn, along with Jim and Christy Pennington, all first-grade parents at Green Gables, attended a special dinner hosted by the Denver St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee, knowing only that they were receiving "a very prestigious award."

Upon arrival, they were seated at a table with a very excited parade director who complimented the students, saying how impressed the parade committee (including judges, directors and marshals) were with their float, family parade participation and student behavior. She continued to say that for all of these reasons and more the parade committee selected Green Gables to receive an award. After previous inquiries to the parade committee about which award the school was being honored with, Mr. Oryshchyn, also the art teacher at Green Gables, asked again, "What award are we receiving?"

Her response was, "I still can't say, but it's a BIG ONE!" Also at their table was Donna Sampson, a former Green Gables secretary and long-time parade judge and Marietta Clare, a former Green Gables parent.

As the award portion of the evening began, the excitement and anticipation grew! There were 310 parade entries this year. Of those, the parade committee honored 15. Some of the first awards included "Best Marching Unit;" "Best Pipers;" and "Best Irish Step Dance." The sixth award given was for the "Group Having the Most Fun."

"We all looked at each other confident that this must be our award! After all, we had great fun designing and decorating the float, learning and singing the school song, riding the bus downtown, eating hot dogs and chips while we waited, and participating on parade day!" described Stacy Oryshchyn, who is also Jefferson County kindergarten coordinator.

Instead, another group was named. Award number nine...number eleven...number thirteen and still no mention of Green Gables. As our excitement mounted, finally, Green Gables "a small school in Lakewood with big spirit!" That's how the Parade President described the home of the Leprechauns. Green Gables received the SECOND TOP HONOR - the PRESIDENT'S AWARD!

Because of their green and gold Leprechaun pride, Green Gables has participated in the annual Denver St. Patrick's Day Parade for nineteen years. Traditionally the school has used a flatbed truck and trailer, adorned with balloons and shamrocks to carry students and parents, wearing green hats and school shirts down the parade route. This year's parade committee Kim Nielson, first-grade teacher at Shafer Elementary, Jan Weigum, Gary Stuckey and the Oryshchyns - all parents of Green Gables students - worked together to create a plan to change this year's parade entry, with the number one goal to include the kids.

The parade festivities began with a float design contest in art with "Mr. O," along with the music teacher, Ashley Campbell - new to Green Gables this year, teaching the entire student body the school song. The design entries were judged by the school's student council to determine the winning design, which also sponsored a candy drive to ensure that there was plenty of candy to share with the crowd.

The night before the parade, families were invited to the school to build the float - a rainbow made from a chicken wire frame filled with tissue paper. Families gathered to celebrate their school spirit, making signs, stuffing tissue paper squares, and eating pizza. Early the Saturday morning of the parade, families gathered once again in the school parking lot, where three shiny pick-up trucks, each pulling a flatbed trailer, were loaded with materials before the group boarded two Jefferson County school buses to take them downtown.

Once they arrived in the Coors Field parking lot the real frenzy began as they quickly found their staging area, put the rainbow float pieces together, blew up balloons and painted the faces of the students. The choir began singing; the band and orchestra began to play; and families waited. They waited patiently for nearly three hours before starting down the parade route and the kids couldn't have behaved better. They staked their claim on one of the three trailers, enjoyed the camaraderie of one another, and watched the people.

Ashley Campbell recalls, "Next to us was a group of Aurora firefighters. Thanks to one Green Gables dad and the generosity of some local heroes, the Aurora firefighters fed our kids - all 75 of them!" Hot dogs for everyone!

Stacy Oryshchyn, parade coordinator for Green Gables, thanked the committee, described how the parade belonged to the students from beginning to end, and then proudly accepted the award "on behalf of the students."

"Congratulations Green Gables - we have known for a long time that we are a small school with big spirit, but now the city of Denver recognizes it too!" says Kathy Chandler, Green Gables principal, also in attendance on parade day.

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