Ornament tradition continues at Keene Elementary School
Keene’s PTO officers showed off the front and back of the ornaments being given to students and staff. Pictured from left are: May Johnson, vice president; Katie Parsons, secretary; Morgan Hammond, president; and Angie Copenhaver, treasurer. Josie Sellers | Beacon
Keene Elementary School PTO officers and volunteers gathered together on Dec. 10 to assemble this year’s 300 ornaments and date them. The students will then finish them up with some glitter during art time in their classrooms. Josie Sellers | Beacon
COSHOCTON – No one seems to remember how the tradition got started, but every Christmas, students and staff at Keene Elementary School receive an ornament from the parent teacher organization (PTO).
“I took it over three years ago, but I know it’s been going on a whole lot longer than that,” said PTO President Morgan Hammond.
May Johnson, vice president of the PTO, still has the ornaments she received as a student at Keene.
“I have all mine out on a tree and each of my girls started a tree with theirs,” she said. “The ornaments have changed a lot over the years. They’ve gone from simple to elaborate and back to simple.”
Several of the PTO officers hoped former long time principal Jerry Olinger would know more about the history of the ornaments. Olinger, who is now principal of the junior high, led Keene for 12 years.
“I think it just started one year as a project for PTO and it just caught on and kept going forward,” he said. “I know when we put our tree up I had all of my 12 different ornaments from Keene.”
PTO officers and volunteers gathered together on Dec. 10 to assemble this year’s 300 ornaments and date them. The students will then finish them up with some glitter during art time in their classrooms.
The snowflake-shaped ornaments were made by Jay Lenhart and painted by Brad Richard.
Category: Education
