“Lions, and tigers, and bears – oh, my!”

There may not have been any bears roaming around Luverne School last Thursday evening, but there were plenty of cheetahs, elephants, hippos, giraffes, zebras, and even a snake, just to name a few, as the First Grade Class presented its 27th Annual Play.

This year’s production, “It’s a Jungle Out There,” was filled with bright costumes, bright lights, and bright smiles as the jungle animals helped King Leo the Lion find the answer to the question, “What is the true meaning of happiness?”

The evening began with a video recording of Sandy Walker, who was unable to attend Thursday night’s performance. However, she has been a part of LES’s annual first grade play since the first one was performed 27 years ago.

The proceeds from the annual production go toward the Elaine Goodwyn Memorial Scholarship.

“Elaine Goodwyn was taken from us by cancer, but she left a legacy of love for these children that continues to this day,” Walker said in the recording.

One extra special note during the evening was the fact that Goodwyn’s great-niece, Madison McDougald, was in this year’s play. McDougald played the role of King Leo the Lion.

King Leo noted that he had all the riches in the world, yet he still wasn’t happy. So, he sent a safari team out to ask all the other jungle animals if they knew the key to true happiness.

The Cheetahs proved to be a lively bunch as they sang and danced, declaring they were “party animals.”

“We’re going to party on down!” the group declared, but the safari people didn’t believe King Leo would be satisfied with that answer, so they kept searching.

The monkeys just knew that to “play, play, play” was the answer to true happiness, but the safari hunters still weren’t satisfied, even after the monkeys sang and danced to “Going Bananas!”

The hyenas thought that everything was funny—even the sad things in life. So, the safari hunters continued their quest.

“Good friends will make you feel at home!”

As the safari hunters came across the elephants, they at last found the key to true happiness.

“We stop and smell the roses,” the elephants declared, “And, we enjoy things in life like having good friends.”

With that, King Leo knew that friendship was the key to true happiness.

“So just call me Leo instead of ‘Sire’ because we’re all friends,” the King declared.

Luverne School’s first grade teachers are Sherrie Blackmon, Hope Bowers, Shea Simmons, and Judy Wilson.

The Luverne Elementary School First Grade Class and teachers thanks everyone who helped to make this year another successful production.