James B. Eads Elementary students in Munster waved blue and white streamers as assistant principal LaToya Edwards led them in a school cheer Monday.
Then, the kids erupted as blue confetti rained down on them from confetti cannons shot off by teachers.
More than 500 students and staff members reveled in an afternoon celebration of the school’s first National Blue Ribbon award, announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Education.
It’s just the second Blue Ribbon for the School Town of Munster with Frank Hammond Elementary picking one up in 2014.
Principal Linda Bevil, who’s been at Eads for 14 years, shared the significance of the award that’s based on high performance on the state ILEARN exam.
“That means that we are one of the best schools in the United States of America,” she told the cheering assembly.
“This award is a dream come true for all your teachers and staff members who work with you every day. We couldn’t have achieved this without them,” Bevil said.
Locally, Central Elementary and St. Paul Catholic School, both in Valparaiso, also won Blue Ribbons from the U.S. Department of Education along with seven other Indiana schools.
Bevil said she got the new in an email Friday. “I was crying, I was so happy,” she said.
Bevil said she’s proud the students didn’t let the COVID-19 pandemic hold them back from coming to school.
“We had 85% in school … It paid off,” she said.
Nationwide, 297 schools earned Blue Ribbons based on high achievement or in Central’s case, on progress in closing learning gaps among student subgroups.
Eads, named after the Indiana-born civil engineer and inventor who built ironclad ships for the Union during the Civil War and later designed the Mississippi River Bridge in St. Louis, was named an Exemplary High Performing School by the Department of Education.
Principals of all three local schools will travel to Washington, D.C., in November for an awards ceremony.
Munster Superintendent Bret Heller, who joined the district during the summer, offered congratulations and a bouquet of flowers for Bevil.
“Do you realize how big of a deal this is? There are more than 96,000 public schools in the U.S. For you to be among less than 300 is an extremely big deal,” he said.
“What your teachers and principals have shown, is you set really high goals, work hard, and anything is possible.”
Fifth grader Sophia Garcia said: “The teachers are awesome, I think they put lot of hard work and dedication in. And the library has all different books for different ages.”
Second grader Karisma Hernandez said people were kind at the school and she likes the field trips and academic challenges.
The biggest cheer, however, came when Bevil told the kids they had a reward waiting for them — doughnuts with blue icing.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
