Aroostook Republican photo/Theron Larkins
At left, third-grader Connor Soucy and fourth-grader Tanner Prashaw speed down the giant hill set up outside the Woodland Consolidated School during their 55th annual Winter Carnival, which was held on Saturday, March 1.
By Theron Larkins
Staff Writer
WOODLAND — The Woodland Consolidated School hosted their 55th annual Winter Carnival on Saturday, with a weekend event full of winter activities for students from all grade levels to enjoy. The Woodland Winter Carnival has been held nearly every year since the establishment of the school in 1951. Barring a few early years directly after the school’s inception, the winter carnival has been a staple in what is a long list of festivities and outdoor activities the school currently participates in throughout the calendar year.
Since the crowning of the first Winter Carnival King and Queen the event has evolved and undergone remodeling that’s helped to create a unique and fun snow-filled day, where for one day at school the only subject is recess. The students took to cross-country ski trails behind the building, where upperclassmen helped to teach the younger aspiring Nordic skiers the basics of a sport so deeply engrained into the area’s culture.
Meanwhile, a steep triumvirate of man-made snow mounds ran down the middle of the playground like a three-lane highway, while a sporadic flow of students on sleds, skis and innertubes seamlessly glided past one another, navigating the playground that was transformed into a winter wonderland for one special day. It’s through fun physical activities like these that the carnival has become a favorite among Woodland students of all ages.
Of course, the Winter Carnival is not only about games and outdoor fun. The Woodland School kicked-off their Winter Carnival early on Friday with the school’s 17th annual Speaking Contest. The contest was a dramatic competition between seven students from grades 7 and 8. With speeches the students prepared and the help of whomever they select as a coach, the students delivered their monologues in front of parents, teachers, fellow students and the panel of judges who would ultimately decide this year’s best speech.
After much deliberating, the judges decided this year’s Speaking Contest champions, and also Winter Carnival king and queen were eighth-graders Scott Bray and Adia Greer, who will both hold the title until next year when another speaking contest will crown new royalty. However, until next winter the titles will be donned by the two proud contest winners, both of whom had to genuinely earn the right to wear the crown in 2014. The fact that the honor is based solely on merit rather than popular vote, allows the students a sense of pride that can only be gained by giving the best speech of the year.
Photo contributed by Laurie Sheehan
Fourth-graders Mackenzie Tracy, left, and Amanda Poulin pose at the top of the hill during Woodland’s 55th annual Winter Carnival on Saturday, March 1st, at the Woodland Consolidated School.
Photo contributed by Laurie Sheehan
Second-grader Keenan Masse gives the camera a big smile, as he takes his innertube down the giant man-made hill set up Saturday on the Woodland Consolidated School’s playground..
Photo contributed by Laurie Sheehan
Seventh-graders Hollie McDougal, left, and her partner Ghent Durepo compete in the three-legged race, at the Woodland School’s 55th annual Winter Carnival on Saturday, March 1.
