N. Columbia students plan to bring back old times

Sock hops were teen rites of passage when North Columbia Elementary School opened in 1956.

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As part of a yearlong celebration of the school's 50th anniversary, the second-grade class is reviving the dance tradition Friday.

Second-grade teachers chose to sponsor a dance, which will be held at the school gymnasium from 6 to 8 p.m. to raise funds for a field trip to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. They picked a sock hop theme to tie into the school's anniversary, North Columbia Principal Kay Sanders said.

"We decided this was absolutely perfect," Sanders said. "We're going to dress in poodle skirts and saddle oxfords and ponytails and all kinds of fun '50s outfits."

School officials even worked the sock hop theme into the school's curriculum.

"Our (physical education) teacher has been teaching our children some '50s dances and dances through the ages," Sanders said. "They'll know how to do a few things from the '50s on up to today."

North Columbia Elementary is one of four Columbia County schools that turned 50 in the 2006-07 school year.

Earlier in the school year, officials held a carnival honoring the school's past and hope to hold one more event in the spring.

"We plan to have a reception to get as many alumni as we can and hopefully have a little forum to tell old war stories," Sanders said.

The dance theme might carry over into the forum, she said.

"Hopefully, at our reception, we'll be able to do a little program with some of the children to demonstrate how dances have changed over the years," Sanders said. "That'll be fun."