Dr. Kelly R. Clenchy, Superintendent
33 Shattuck Street,
Littleton, MA 01460
For Immediate Release
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Media Contact: Jordan Mayblum
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: jordan@jgpr.net
Shaker Lane Second Graders Feted at Annual Last Day Clap Off
*Click here for video of the Clap Off*
LITTLETON — By early afternoon Wednesday, the halls of Shaker Lane School had finally fallen silent for the summer, but not before a few final bursts of noise as teachers, staff and parents bid students farewell.
Before final dismissal on Wednesday, June 19, family members lined up behind the school for what has become an annual rite of passage for Littleton’s second graders — the clap off.
In the waning minutes of every school year, Shaker Lane second graders — the school’s eldest students — are celebrated one last time before setting off on the next step of their educational journey at Russell Street School. To mark the occasion, they donned shirts from their new school and walked through tunnels of clapping kindergarteners, first graders and finally parents, siblings, teachers and staff.
“It’s definitely a special time for our second graders,” Principal Michelle Kane said. “The clap off gives our school community a chance to say goodbye to all of our departing second grade students and gives our younger students something to look forward to as they progress through their time at Shaker Lane.”
The clap off tradition is one that dates back for at least 25 years, though front office staff members joked that its origins may, or may not be linked to The Clapper — the old as-seen-on-TV gadget that claps on and claps off.
Following the Clap Off, students and families joined together to say a final farewell to teachers and classmates, with the penultimate rush of noise coming as buses blasted their horns while pulling out of the school’s driveway.
Then, with the students largely gone, Principal Kane took the microphone of the school’s intercom to thank teachers for another great year before turning the microphone over to Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.,” which teachers in the halls smoothly dubbed over with, “It’s a party at Shaker Lane.”
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