Downtown students

Broad Street sees over 1,000 kids on field trips Friday

Broad Street was busy Friday morning as over 1,000 students from around Floyd and surrounding counties were downtown for various field trips and Christmas events.

Elementary schools from Floyd, Gordon, Chattooga, Haralson and Polk counties gathered at the City Auditorium for two showings of “Spirit of the Season” by Rome’s Own Musical Ensemble. The show featured dancing snowmen, a jazz band and an adaptation of “The Polar Express.” The 9 a.m. show filled the auditorium to its maximum capacity with 1,038 students in attendance according to the “Spirit of the Season” check-in sheet. The second performance had 667 students in attendance. Glenwood Primary School’s second-graders attended the first show and then spent the better part of Friday touring different agencies on Broad Street.

The second-graders split into two groups with the first heading to the Rome Fire Department headquarters and the second to the RomeFloyd County 911 Center. Then they rotated after their tours were complete. Rome firefighters showed the second-graders their bunks, the fire trucks and even slid down the fire pole as a demonstration, said Sarah Holsomback, assistant principal at Glenwood.

At the Rome-Floyd County 911 Center, Pfc. Steve Cantrell showed the second-graders the ins and outs of a Rome police patrol car. He also showed them his police motorcycle and even flipped on the lights for a show. After the students completed both tours they walked over to the Rome Area History Museum for a picnic in the museum’s upstairs room.

Just down the road at the Forum River Center’s indoor ice rink, some of Johnson Elementary School’s fifthgrade students spent the morning on the ice. Students had a choice to go on an overnight trip to Nature’s Classroom in Mentone, Alabama, or to do activities on Thursday and Friday. The Johnson students at the Forum on Friday chose the latter and had a morning on the ice.

After the Johnson crowd rolled out, it was Pepperell High School’s turn to take over the indoor ice rink. Fresh out of the Can-AThon, the high school students, along with Pepperell Middle, raised over $6,000 for the Salvation Army and were even featured on WXIA 11 Alive News.

The Winter Wonderland Carnival & Ice Festival was held in the Forum until 11 p.m. with the ice rink staying open until midnight.

ABOVE: Pepperell High School sophomore Kelley Robinson skates around the indoor ice rink at the Forum River Center. Robinson was downtown Friday after he and other Pepperell students participated in the Can-A-Thon at the Coosa Valley Fairgrounds earlier in the day.

RIGHT: Johnson Elementary fifth-graders Liliana Owens (left) and Abbi Worthington skate along to the song “Ghostbusters,” a regular played at the Forum River Center ice rink. Every time the song says the word ghost, skaters are supposed to switch directions.

Photos by John Popham LEFT: Pfc. Steve Cantrell (left) shows second-graders from Glenwood Primary School the ins and outs of a Rome patrol car during their Friday morning field trip to the 911 Center.

BELOW: Elementary schools from Floyd, Gordon, Chattooga, Haralson and Polk counties gather at the City Auditorium on Friday morning for two showings of “Spirit of the Season” by Rome’s Own Musical Ensemble Inc.