July 4th parade celebrates students’ accomplishments
It’s not really time for the July 4th holiday until the Arlington ISD extended school year (ESY) July 4th parade happens.
So now the 4th can happen! Last Thursday Webb Elementary was the site of the annual ESY parade.
The parade is a chance to celebrate the ESY students and all their accomplishments. And what better way to do that than with a parade complete with red, white and blue decorations, traditional summer school students cheering them on and Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA” playing in the background.
“It’s so fun,” said Shelby Sanders-Alvarez, who is the ESY summer school principal and a special education instructional specialist the rest of the year. “I like seeing the kids being able to participate and the kids being able to see them enjoy the small things.”
It wasn’t a small thing to get the parade set up. Sanders-Alvarez had help from people on the Webb campus, the district’s special education department and others to help make the day special. Donations of decorations also helped.
And while the parade put smiles on the faces of the students being honored in the parade, they weren’t the only ones.
Special education curriculum coordinator Tamara Johnson has been with the district since 2016. The parade is a must-see part of her summer.
“This is a tradition,” Johnson said. “It’s nice that they EY (extended year) administrators allow this to take place. The collaboration between the EY administrators and the ESY administrators make this happen. This is a wonderful setting. A lot of our kids wouldn’t be able to do something like this because of the limitations they have.”