DERRY — One hundred seconds might not seem like a very long time, but to someone in a cookie-eating contest, it may seem like forever.
That may be how East Derry Memorial Elementary School principal Tom Poliseno felt last week as the school celebrated its 100th day of school with special activities and contests.
In Poliseno's case, he was challenged to eat as many cookies as he could in 100 seconds.
"At the end, he was shoving in two cookies at one time," 11-year-old Sadie Snell noted.
She was charged with being one of the official judges of the cookie contest.
In the end, her school's leader ate 17 cookies.
The cookie challenge was only one part of a day full of student activities celebrating the number 100.
A display case full of 100 Beanie Babies greeted children that day. A raffle would send some of those coveted stuffed animals home with students later on.
Other events included teachers and staff taking on 100-related challenges like "How many jumping jacks can Miss McLaughlin do?" and "How many musical instruments can Mrs. Legare name?"
Reaching 100 was the goal.
"It's a good number," East Derry fifth-grader Christian DiPersio said.
He said students also brought in bags full of 100 pennies, to be counted and sorted later on by PTA volunteers and sent off to support the local food pantry.
Celebrating the 100th day of school is important in East Derry.
"It's good to celebrate, it's fun," assistant principal Cara Donati said. "They've been here 100 days, and it's also a time of year that's a little sluggish. It's doing something fun and with the staff."
Individual classes also did special "100" projects.
Students drew self-portraits of what they might look like at the age of 100, most with curly permed hair and canes included.
"When you are 100, you must feel really old," one fourth-grader wrote on her drawing.
Younger students created paper footprints to line the school hallways, stating 100 reasons why there were grateful.
All ages were involved in the 100 celebration.
Donati said honoring the school's 100th day helped students reach a goal, while keeping education a key, and enjoying a highly charged day of varied activities.
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