{"id":10274,"date":"2021-12-10T10:59:52","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T15:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=10274"},"modified":"2022-01-28T12:26:24","modified_gmt":"2022-01-28T17:26:24","slug":"pembroke-elementary-school-celebrates-community-with-unity-circle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/pembroke-elementary-school-celebrates-community-with-unity-circle\/","title":{"rendered":"Pembroke Elementary School celebrates community with Unity Circle"},"content":{"rendered":"

-by Mary Norton Yannuzzi<\/em><\/p>\n

On the afternoon before Thanksgiving break, hundreds of people gathered outside Pembroke Elementary School, spread across the bus loop and parking lot, to celebrate and give thanks during the school\u2019s annual Unity Circle.\"""\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s celebration was canceled due to COVID-19, so this assembly was especially appreciated by those who missed the annual event, such as Assistant Principal Stephanie Lopez, who reflected on this, her 13th<\/sup> Unity Circle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe feeling of staff, students and community coming together to show gratitude and celebrate change,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s one of my favorite days of the year!\u201d<\/p>\n

Also in the crowd was Dr. Linda Hayes, director of elementary schools, who initiated the Unity Circle when she was principal of Lynnhaven Elementary School in 1994. She brought the event to Newtown Elementary School in 2004 and then to Pembroke in 2007.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s heartwarming to see Pembroke continue the Unity Circle,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cI love this event and seeing the families and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pembroke Principal Ryan Goldburg and her staff coordinated efforts for all students to participate by singing, clapping and dancing.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI have a speaking part this year,\u201d shared fifth grade student Jon Carter, who was charged with delivering a personal statement in front of his classmates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just what the world needs,\u201d he announced with a smile. The crowd erupted in applause.<\/p>\n

Pembroke alumni returned to be part of this year\u2019s Unity Circle, including Madeline and Chloe Haydon, who joined their brother, current fifth grader George Haydon, in the audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the best school with the best staff,\u201d shared Madeline.\"""\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Chloe agreed and added, \u201cWe just all love coming back here \u2013 it\u2019s just special.\u201d<\/p>\n

George said he loved the singing part of the ceremony and expressed his gratitude for his family and the \u201cwhole event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fourth grade student Makayla Taylor was also a fan of the singing.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite song is \u2018All The People Say Thanks,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s the song at the end that everyone sings together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following that final group sing-along, the crowd dispersed and each attendee was encouraged to reflect on the true meaning of the Unity Circle, a message shared in unison by the school\u2019s administration, \u201cChange sings with endless possibilities for you and me!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

-by Mary Norton Yannuzzi On the afternoon before Thanksgiving break, hundreds of people gathered outside Pembroke Elementary School, spread across the bus loop and parking lot, to celebrate and give […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":10283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10274"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10282,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10274\/revisions\/10282"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}