While celebrating families at the third annual “Thankful for Families Day” to mark the end of school for the semester, students at Bowman Hills also remembered those families in Connecticut who are grieving the loss of loved ones.

Prior to the band concert that got the day off to a festive start, students and their guests spent a moment in silence to remember the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School. Then, as participants rotated through the morning’s activities, they took time to make paper snowflakes as part of a nationwide effort to create a winter wonderland for the new Sandy Hook school building.

“With what’s going on in Connecticut, I thought it was just providential that this was planned ahead of time,” associate pastor of the Bowman Hills Adventist Church Ted Dubs said.

The plan for the day was to give families a chance to have fun together. Students each invited one or two family members, who joined them for games, crafts, and refreshments.

“The idea began with the thought of having a Grandparents Day,” Principal Matt Korp said. “But we realized this would exclude students who don’t have grandparents who are able to attend, so we opened it up to other family members.”

As grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents, and siblings joined in on the festivities, the stresses of recent events and the pre-holiday rush seemed to melt away in a childlike embrace of the moment.

“The kids seem to have a lot of fun,” Laura Weaver said as she watched her husband and daughter participate in a paper wad “snowball” fight.