Family fun at center of ECC’s first Spring Fling

They enjoyed pizza chips and raffles. They had family photos taken to remember when. They had a dance contest and disc jockey, too.

This was all last Friday night inside the Johnston High School cafeteria, as the Early Childhood Center held a unique Spring Fling Dance.

For a first-ever effort, 325 people turned out, as the ECC – Johnston’s first-ever all-day kindergarten – celebrated yet another sparkling success story.

“This event allowed us the opportunity to get to know our students’ parents, guardians, and extended family members,” Julie-anne Zarrella, the ECC’s principal, explained. “We also had a chance to see our students socializing in that setting. It was really an enjoyable evening.”

The ECC Spring Fling was also advantageous in many other ways, one being for parents to meet and exchange stories.

“One mother thanked me on her way out,” Zarrella said, “saying how grateful she was to be able to meet her daughter’s friends and their parents and set up play dates.”

When asked how the ECC managed to pull off such a well-orchestrated dance, Zarrella responded: “This was a collaborative effort of our PTO [Parent-Teacher Organization] and community members like the Original Italian Bakery that donated pizza chips and raffle baskets for our students.”

Zarrella also noted that Janice Mele, who chairs the Johnston School Committee, donated “two beautiful baskets for the night’s raffle.”

The ECC Spring Fling, as one may expect, featured lots of music and dancing.

Sometime around 5:15 p.m. – before the dancing began – Cedar Ridge Photography helped make the night even more special by setting up an area for parents to have a picture taken with their children.

The night’s highlight, though, was when organizers held what Zarrella called “The Freeze Dance” – a contest won by Mason Caramante, who is the older brother of ECC student Madison Caramante. The siblings came to the Spring Fling with their mother and father.

“We had a great committee that worked hard to make sure this was a success,” Zarrella said, noting that that group included school committee members, Dr. Bernard DiLullo, Dr. Arthur-Paul Petrosinelli, Gloria Barone, Ida Acciardo, Patti Lombardo, Zach Farrell, Tina and Gianna Brodeur, and Camrie St. Pierre.

Zarrella also issued special thanks to PTO members who spent hours planning the great event. They are Christen Ciarlo, Korrine Pilkington, Angela Vescera, Sheri Farrell, Lisa Ricci, Kristy Pistacchio, Marianna Lapati, and teachers Kim Marshall, Nicole Carroll, Paula Acciardo, Molly Gilroy, and Toni Lynch.

Next on the ECC’s event calendar is the school’s fist-ever Art Show, which is scheduled for Thursday evening, May 26.