Winter returned to The Bolles Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus on Friday, complete with snow.
The weather was perfect for the school’s annual Winter Fest, a popular event where students run, play and laugh. There was a bounce house, train ride, pie throw, field games, snacks, snowball-making activity and more. But the snow was clearly a favorite.
A crew of professional snowmakers crushed bags of ice in a machine and sprayed it over a large play area in the form of snow. A group of boys built one snowman, while a group of girls built another.
Stacey Hendershot, head of the Lower School, said the students could hardly wait for the end of the day and the start of the festival.
“They were excited all day,” she said. “It’s a little bit of magic in the middle of our Florida winter.”
The fifth-graders made bracelets to sell as a fundraiser at the festival. Each year, the class contributes something to the campus.
“In the past, we’ve gotten buddy benches,” Hendershot recalled. “We’ve gotten a fountain in our butterfly garden. It depends on the year, but they’ll use that to bring something unique to the campus.”
The festival is presented each year by the Bolles Parent Association.
“It’s a great community event,” Hendershot said. “The kids love it. The parents love it. And we love it, too.”
Students in pre-kindergarten through grade five attend the school, which has an enrollment of 243.
