A student-made puppet of a kangaroo — the AFS mascot — made a surprise appearance at our Arbor Day celebration, emerging onto Smith Field to circle Maypole dancers and elicit excited high fives from fellow students.

Visit here to see a video of the kangaroo puppet at Arbor Day.

Middle School Art Teacher Pete Thobaben said the big, brown friendly looking puppet was the handiwork of nine sixth graders in his advisory, who began the project in September and worked on it weekly as the school year unfolded.

The students made the kangaroo’s frame out of PVC pipe and wire, and covered it with painted muslin. On April 28, two students maneuvered the puppet down school hallways as a warning of “Kangaroo Coming Through!” rang out.

Pete said the student puppeteers wanted their creation’s unveiling to be a surprise.

“I think we picked the right time to do it,” he said, speaking of the all-school Arbor Day celebration.

Under a hot sun, the festivities included a program of student music, readings and dancing in honor of springtime and trees. Seniors and first graders planted flowering pink dogwood trees, and the class shovel of leadership was passed from Senior Class Clerk Desmond Daniels to Junior Class Clerk Kenan Sayers.

After Arbor Day, the kangaroo puppet was raised to the ceiling of the Middle School art room, joining a gallery of student-made puppets that had a role in the Middle School play “James and the Giant Peach.”

“I don’t know when it will come down again,” Pete said.