The pizza and prizes were just icing on the cake for Belvedere Elementary School Speech Language Pathologist Dana Stevenson – the big, fuzzy, yellow bug creating all the commotion in the nearby classroom was the main attraction.
And it was “Auggie” who stole the show.
It’s something the Augusta GreenJackets’ mascot does quite often.
Earlier this month, Auggie visited the school after Ms. Stevenson sent in a unique entry for the team’s annual Halloween Essay Contest in which she wrote and displayed through photographs how her special needs students worked as a group to identify Auggie’s characteristics and the things he might like – like the game of baseball. Her entry was selected as a winner by the GreenJackets’ staff, leading to a celebratory pizza party and an on-site visit by the Big Bug himself.
“This particular visit was related to our Halloween essay contest, but last year we visited around 40 different schools as part of Auggie’s Book Club, so we go to schools around the area and meet with students and do lots of different things with them so it’s a lot of fun,” commented Augusta GreenJackets’ representative Shannon Mitchell, who accompanied Auggie on the visit.
Belvedere Elementary School Counselor Regina Hall passed along the Halloween essay contest information to teachers, who developed their own contest entries.
“I saw the essay contest and really felt that it would give our students here an opportunity to incorporate some additional writing in a project-based format,” stated Hall.
Ms. Stevenson said she was overjoyed after learning her students had won the top prize.
“I have no words. I am just so proud of my students,” commented Ms. Stevenson. “I never, ever thought that we would win, because our entry was going to have to be very different from all the others, but we had so much fun talking with them about language, baseball and all the things that (Auggie) likes. We took pictures and invited him to come and here he is.”
Auggie brought in hot pizza and gift bags for students and posed for a number of photographs, including one with school principal Dr. Salvatore Minolfo, while handing out more than a few hugs too. Students squealed with excitement each time he turned a corner in the building or entered a new classroom, paying off days of patience and anticipation.
“The students had been waiting and they were very excited for him to come,” Ms. Stevenson added. “We are just thrilled that Auggie was able to come and be here with us.”
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