Gribbin Elementary School students recently enjoyed a “Play in a Day” – back by popular demand. The initial performance of the play, entitled "Tikki Tikki Tembo," took place last month during the school’s Enrichment Afternoon, which provided students with an opportunity to choose from a variety of activities of high interest to them.  Teachers, teacher assistants, custodians, and parents all volunteered their time to co-teach activities to the children during the school day.

One of these choices that day was to put together "A Play in a Day." Music teacher JoAnn Criblez and kindergarten teacher Irena Kamola organized the play, with first and second graders from different classes participating. Students enjoyed it so much that they decided that the whole school should see it, and Principal Francine Santoro agreed.

“Tikki Tikki Tembo is based on a picture book set in ancient China that tells the tale of a young boy who has a very long name during a time when nicknames or abbreviating names were not allowed. The boy’s named is Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo, which means “The Most Wonderful Thing in the Whole Wide World.” When he falls into a well and his brother seeks help from others, he experiences difficulty explaining the situation due to the boy’s lengthy name. The story attempts to draw a fictional correlation between the incident and fact that many modern day Chinese names are not very long.