The Thanksgiving leftovers may be gone, but the holiday spirit is still flying high - literally. For years Ms. Allyn has had RJB fourth-grade students participate in a tradition unique to the holiday, and it starts with a book. “We read ‘Balloons Over Broadway: The Inspiring True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade’,” said Ms. Allyn. “It’s a biography about the puppeteer Tony Sarg who used imagination and innovation to create something spectacular. It’s a way to inspire students to tap into that thinking and design their own Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Balloon Floats.”
The centennial parade featured new floats from Paw Patrol and Dragon Ball, perhaps inspiring fourth graders who imagined their own balloon float using tin foil to construct a mini-prototype that can be inflated. There are no rules to what they decide to make, the more imaginative the better. Miah, one of Ms. Allyn’s students, found inspiration in the biography of the inventive puppeteer. “He was very clever. He used research and blueprints to find ways to solve problems,” she said. “For my float, I made “Butterfinger.” He’s a cute duck with turkey feathers. I named him that because he is cute, fuzzy, and sweet.”
Along with their designs, Ms. Allyn also has students write a letter to Macy’s explaining why their float should be part of the iconic parade. “The letters are an exercise to develop paragraph writing skills using structure and reasoning. The way they present their reason and supporting information is also an early introduction to persuasive writing,” said Ms. Allyn. “There have been some years where the letters are so good that some parents actually want to send them to Macy’s corporate headquarters.”
For Highview students, the Caldecott Honor-winning book about Tony Sarg inspired a new school tradition this year. “This year, we held our first Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade,” said Mr. Mastrangelo. Like RJB students, elementary students made balloon floats for the special parade. Carrying the decorated inflated balloons above their heads, just as a puppeteer would, students marched in a circle around the cheering spectators with personality and pride. “It’s always great to celebrate the season through creativity and community,” said Mr. Mastrangelo. “The element of wonder made this even more special.”