By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

NORTH SHELBY—Parents are always welcome to visit their child’s classroom at Oak Mountain Elementary School, but Friday, May 8 was special. First grade moms were invited to attend a Mother’s Day tea party hosted in their child’s classroom.

“This is our annual Mother’s Day tea party,” first grade teacher Anne Neighbors said. “It’s a time to celebrate our moms and all the wonderful things they do.”

The tea party is not just a longstanding first grade tradition at OMES, it is also the culmination of months of work.

Student-made cards and goodies decorated each mom’s seat. The first graders also practiced songs and wrote special pieces to read aloud during the tea party.

Each classroom closed the tea party with a video slideshow with photos and quotes from each student about why they love their moms. Moms were given DVDs of the slideshow to take home after the tea party.

“Today was very special because he wrote the things he felt about me,” first grade mom Angie Dunham said of the tea party. “The biggest surprise was when he said, ‘She made me.’ That was major tears.”

The students also enjoyed the special time with their moms.

“It means that she finally gets to see what we’ve been doing and all the progress we’ve made in school!” Angie Dunham’s son Quentin said.