Merced Union High School District

Five hundred elementary school students participated in the 11th Annual Kids Day at Livingston High School on Friday. The event continues to grow each year. The kids were being supervised by high school student volunteers as they played games, colored, participated in activities, learned about science and enjoyed themselves as they rotated from station to station on campus. 

 

Kids Day is organized each year by Livingston High science teacher Edith Hernandez. “When my oldest son was in kinder, I got the idea to invite his class into my classroom to do science experiments during my lunch and prep, and I asked our then-principal, Mandy Ballenger, if she would allow me to do that,” Hernandez said. “She replied, ‘Yes, but why don't you involve your AP students?’  That gave me the green light to develop this program.”

 

“My goal was always to follow my son's class grade, so the first year I invited his kinder class, then the next year I invited his first grade class, then the third year I invited his second grade class, but along the way, his previous teachers would ask for an invitation because they told me this was the best field trip they have ever had for their little ones,” Hernandez added. “Every year, I had teachers reach out to me to ask for an invitation, and the program kept growing.  Two years ago, I decided to invite all of LUSD's first graders and fill open spots with kinder and second-grade classes from throughout the district.” Hernandez has also found ways to incorporate different departments from LHS including public safety, photography, and medical technologies. 

The event has grown to where Hernandez had 350 Livingston High students volunteering to oversee 44 different stations spread out across campus. The event has become just as popular for the high school students. Hernandez says Livingston students come up to her on the first day of school asking when Kids Day will be. Hernandez describes the two weeks of preparation for the event “insanity.”

 

The insanity is well worth it when you see the smile on the faces of the kids who come to Livingston High from the feeder elementary schools in the Livingston Unified School District. There was screams and laughter as they ran around campus participating in all the different activities that have been planned for them, including educational science experiments.

 

“I really wanted to be involved in Kids Day because I got to do it last year,” said Livingston High sophomore Taranveer Singh, who was handing out snowcones. “It was something Ms. Hernandez was always hyping up. It’s an event  that she said every kid was coming up to her class begging to join. She just made it seem so grandeur.”

The station subjects this year included mental health, face paint, slime, Med Tech, oceans, insects, basketball, volcanos, fire, soccer, carnival and primary colors. “Fire is new this year and it’s so awesome,” Hernandez said. The elementary students were teamed up with students in the CTE Fire Science Pathway and they were able to help hold a fire hose and try to knock a ball off a cone from a distance with the water. The children were also able to drag a small dummy around a cone.

 

In other stations they were able to see volcanoes erupt, they were able to play Duck, Duck, Goose, soccer, color, eat snacks, play carnival games, get their face painted and make slime among other activities.

 

“It’s a lot of fun interacting with them and seeing their different personalities,” said Livingston High junior Blasa Loza, who worked at the slime station. “A lot of them are really cute. I wanted to participate because it’s such a fun activity with my friends. We just have so much fun. It’s a chance to give back to the community. We were just like them at this age.”

The smiles on their faces never get old for Singh. “Last year was such an awesome experience,” said Singh, who says he missed out on Kids Day when he was little because of the COVID pandemic. “I just see them so happy when I give them something simple like a snowcone. It just makes me happy. It’s so nice. I wish I had this when I was a little kid. It’s nice to give this to them and see them have that joy.”

 

For Hernandez, it’s a joy to see the high school students and the elementary school kids enjoy Kids Day. “It is such an amazing experience for all involved and over the years, I have seen it do amazing things with my students,” she said. “Every year my biggest problem, and it’s a good problem to have, is the request from students to participate in the event. There are so many skills that the students learn from leadership, communication, responsibility, creativity, patience, confidence, team work and so much more. It has been such a rewarding experience to witness.”

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.