Photo by Alan M. Dumoff/More photos www.ccdphotoalbum.com
Taylor Bruner carries the Olympic torch, flanked by the American and Olympic Flags, during the Feb. 12 ceremony.
On Friday, Feb. 12, sixth graders at St. Margaret School, Woodbury Heights, put on their own Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies, hours before the actual one in Vancouver, to kick off the games.
With the rest of the school in attendance, the sixth graders entered the auditorium carrying flags representing the countries participating in Vancouver, while an announcer provided geographical and Olympic history of each country.
The highlight of the ceremony was the carrying of an actual torch used in the cross-country torch relay for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Keith Lowe, a former Moorestown resident, carried the torch in Philadelphia. School parent Danielle Jarrett — whose two sons, second-grader Aidan and fourth-grader Liam, participated in the school ceremony — was able to get the torch for the school, because her mother is best friends with Keith’s cousin. Lowe won the right to carry the torch, in a local car dealership essay contest.
The Feb. 12 ceremony was an educational experience for the sixth graders, as they spent the previous months researching each country’s geography and Olympic history, and hand-crafting each country’s flag.
The Winter Olympic Games are being held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Feb. 12-28.