The annual celebration of Mothers Day in Thailand is held on HM the Queen’s birthday on August 12. This is an especially important day at school because as our Principal Mr. Armstrong said, “Mother is our first teacher”.
This year at REPS (Rayong English Programme School), we invited mothers (fathers too) and their children to come to school wearing creative hats to go with the theme, “Mothers in Wonderland.”
Principal Steve leads the “Mad Hatters Parade”.
The day was planned around the famous storybook, “Alice in Wonderland” which was written in 1865 by an English mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, under the pen name of Lewis Carroll. It was a story that he told to his friend’s daughter whose name was Alice. It became a classic English book about growing up and in 1951 an American animated movie was made by Walt Disney. In 2010 another Hollywood movie was produced starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. Currently “Alice in Wonderland 2” is in production to be released in movie theatres in 2016.
The happy Queen of Hearts …
Reading the book and watching the Disney Classic gave REPS students lots of interesting ideas as they embarked on creating posters to promote the theme of “Mothers in Wonderland.” The M1 students also designed and painted a full deck of cards that they could wear to lead the Queen of Hearts Parade to the hard court area. Another activity period was used to create fantastic hats of all shapes and sizes.
…is joined by her “Dancing Deck of Cards”.
After the opening ceremonies with the traditional Thai Queen’s song, students read the history of Mothers’ Day and why we celebrate it. Then Mad Hatters, Principal Steve and Deputy Principal Dean, wearing the finest of top hats, led the Winners Parade that followed! A beautiful sight to behold was seeing moms and daughters in matching hats, and even fathers and sons got into the action as well as mothers and sons, even whole families dressed alike. The glorious hats and costumes were absolutely amazing, a true tribute to the inventive spirit of Reps parents and students.
Smiles and matching bonnets.
When the procession ended it was followed by a dance from the Deck of Cards and then there were outstanding performances by the Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary students. Many photos were taken to commemorate and celebrate the day and especially to remember how much we all treasure and love our moms. It was truly a day for Mothers in Wonderland.
