Oakside Students Welcome Pageant Winners for Storytime

Oakside Elementary School recently gave a royal welcome to two very special guests- Miss Cinco de Mayo Hudson Valley and Little Miss Cinco de Mayo Hudson Valley. Both visitors had the honor and pleasure to visit two classrooms and share a story, as well as words of encouragement and strength with the students. Miss Cinco de Mayo Hudson Valley, Arianna Memoli, a graduate of Peekskill High School and current freshman at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and spoke with students on a vast array of topics. She was accompanied by Oakside’s own, Shay Nicolaysen, Little Miss Cinco de Mayo.

Students discussed the themes of The Giving Tree, expressing that they felt their own teachers, Mrs. Cohen and Miss Fidanza, gave to them the way that the tree was willing to give to the protagonist in the story. The students asked Miss Cinco de Mayo Hudson Valley all about pageantry and college. Ms. Memoli responded by encouraging students to follow all the goals they have whether they be pageants, college or the trades. It was a fruitful experience for all involved.