The students and staff of the Stone Elementary celebrated the end of the school year in a big way as the final weeks began to wind down.  From favorite classroom traditions to far away field trips, the few students, teachers, staff and friends finished out their year making new memories of another fun year as Stone Bobcats.

For weeks, the students looked forward to their field trip to the City of Rocks in Almo, Idaho, a trip that the staff were unsure would happen.  With the late winter, slow melting and muddy conditions, it was uncertain if the students would be able to hike and explore the area like they had planned.  Fortunately the field trip went off without a hitch on Monday, May 15, with sunshine and clear skies leading the way.  The students enjoyed hiking around the area, learning about how the American Indians called the City of Rocks home, as well as how the site played a significant role in the western migration.

After exploring the City of Rocks, the students and teachers traveled down the road to enjoy a little ice cream at the Tracy Store.  The Tracy Store, the oldest operating store in Idaho, features an old, but still, running Post Office, 100+ year old cash register, gas station and cafe, all housed in the old, rustic, brick building.

On May 16, the PTO, Curlew Senior Citizens, District staff, students and teacher, threw a small surprise celebration in honor of Tami Velasco’s retirement.  Tami has worked at the Stone Elementary as both the head cook as well as the janitor.  Over the ten plus years that Tami worked, she played an integral part of the student’s experience, helping them with everything from Bandaids to phone calls home to frosting cookies at Christmas.  Tami was far more than a lunch lady to anyone that stepped through the school doors.

Mr. Abrams and Mrs. Reeder of the school district stepped in to serve lunch for the day, letting Tami have a well deserved break as friends and family celebrated her great contribution to both the school and the senior citizens.  Mr. Abrams took time to publicly thank Tami for all of her great work through the years and award her employee of the month for the district. 

The third grade class took their annual trip to Malad Elementary to familiarize them with the school, teachers and peers.  The transition from the intimate Stone Elementary to the larger Malad Elementary can be intimidating for the incoming fourth grade students, but a little walk through can do great things to ease their young minds.  Walking away from the experience, the students admitted to being really nervous but also very excited.  While their third graders were in Malad—the kindergarten, first and second grade classes took a quick trip to end the day at Mollie’s Cafe for an ice cream cone and to play at the Snowville park. 

The school enjoyed their final field trip of the year on Tuesday, May 23 as they went swimming at the La Grande Aqua Plunge for the morning, followed by a picnic lunch at the Samaria park.  The students then spent the afternoon at the Malad Valley Heritage Square where Luke Waldron spoke of the early heritage of the area.  The group learned how ropes were made, about branding cattle, making butter and even riding a horse.  Other activities included riding bikes, laser tag, and seeing baby animals.

The teachers began a new tradition for the school- a promotion program for all the grades of Stone Elementary.  In years past, only the leaving third grade class was acknowledged, but this year the teachers and aides put together a fun celebration of everyone’s accomplishments of the year.  Clad in their homemade graduation caps and gowns, the students received a certificate of promotion from, as well as words of wisdom from their teachers.

The school ended the year in an epic way, with a glow party in the gym!  The students were thrilled to turn out the lights and dance with glow sticks to their favorite songs.  As always, the final goodbye at the end of the day was bittersweet, especially for the third grade class. 

When one hears about a small, rural school, they can often jump to conclusions that they might be lacking or have an experience that is subpar.  But every student that has left Stone Elementary will tell you that it is the very best small school around, giving them a unique education, beyond the walls of the classroom!