By Matt Clevenger

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TROY — Students, teachers and staff at CORS Head Start- Troy celebrated the Week of the Young Child last week, decorating classrooms and hallways, and hosting special activities Monday, April 10, through Friday, April 14.

“We’re just a tad bit over-the-top with the Week of the Young Child,” teacher Melissa Campbell said. “We literally go all-out.”

“Obviously, we want to celebrate the kids everyday, but this week in particular we have decorated our whole building,” she said.

The school also hosted special activities for students each day of the week, as well as a special family engagement on Friday, April 14.

“We usually choose a theme early on, and this year we chose the four seasons,” Campbell said. “As you come in one door, winter is the first season that you run into, and it’s all decorated in winter-themed items.”

“The next area down the hall is spring, and then summer and fall,” she said.

“We traditionally have extra-special activities that we do with the kids,” Campbell said. “Monday we started with winter, and they wore white attire. We did a winter activity; our class made snowflakes using pony beads and pipe cleaners.”

“Today, the kids wore sunglasses and a sun hat,” she said. “Tomorrow, we’ll do fall, so they’re going to have wild and crazy wind-blown hair.”

On Friday, April 14, students were allowed to bring family members to tour the building and participate in special activities.

“To wrap-up our week we’ll have a family engagement,” Campbell said. “The kids get to bring their families, whether it be their parents, grandparents or whoever they want to invite. They’ll go through the building to look at the decorations, and each one of our classrooms will have a different activity.”

The Week of the Young Child is celebrated at preschools nationwide, Campbell said.

“Most preschools and day cares do it once a year, about this time,” she said. “It’s really big for us.”

Located at 1849 Towne Park Drive, CORS Head Start- Troy offers classes for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, from six weeks to five-year-olds. More information can be found online at www.kidslearningplace.org.