In an effort to congratulate all of the staff and teachers at Stafford Elementary for all their hard work, new principal Pamela Thomas decided to find an original way of doing this for Teachers and Staff Appreciation Week.

Mrs. Thomas explained, “I wanted to find a way to thank all of the staff for their hard work and to show them how much they were appreciated. I decided to hold a unique contest I heard about though our great counselor Mrs. Bedard. The contest for the week consisted of groups (teams) who impressed everyone with the most creativity and team skills. Teams were: Magnificent Seven, E-Lemon, EqUlpo, Oui Can Can and Los Maestras de Tigres. I had a really great ‘Top Secret Prize’ picked out for the winning team as my way of expressing thanks.”

She explained further, "I called it “The Stafford Contest”, and the staff received daily missions for each day. They ranged from team spirit, talent competition, and Autism Summer Camp fundraiser. Then they received challenges that consisted of ideas for improving the school, kind acts, baked goods, poetry, creative ideas for a country, riddles, team names and doing something nice for someone not on their teams. This was a great team building contest which led to teams demonstrating the great teamwork we have at Stafford Elementary. Teams also earned points throughout the week for completing the mission the best."

Not only did they have lots of fun but they enjoyed a week of treats, baked goods, talent competition, poetry, luncheons, a tea party and ideas for school improvement. They shared giggles and laughs and great camaraderie as well as raising $950.00 for the Autism Summer Camp for kids with autism.

The winning team was EqUlpo consisting of Kim Varner, Jeannete Janek, Leslie Allen, Brandon Ganske, Jennifer Aguado, G. McNeely and Kim Nelson. They were awarded with a two hour early release of their choosing.

Congratulations Team EqUlpo!