After Wareham’s CARE program had an admittedly “iffy” first day with the school on lockdown in July, students celebrated the completion of the six-week program at Thursday’s CARE Fair.

"This was a great six weeks," said Jane Fondulis, director of Office of Beyond School Time. "Although it started off a little iffy." Though students were evacuated on the first day of the CARE program due to a threat, the rest of the program went without a hitch.

The CARE program- Community, Academic, Recreation, Enrichment- is organized by the Office of Beyond School Time. Students from kindergarten through eighth grade are serviced by the program on weekdays.

This year’s CARE theme was HATS- Honor Achieved Through Service. The fair, celebrating the completion of the summer program, featured food, crafts, face painting, games and presentations of musical theater, service learning, dance and claymation.

The service learning portion of the presentation featured students’ project on drug abuse in the community. The students researched opioid abuse and healthy alternatives, then put on a skit showing off what they had learned. The skit suggested alternatives to experimenting with drugs, such as playing football, going to the beach, pottery and spending time with family.

These students also set up a table at the CARE Fair, fundraising for Brent’s Bed, an opioid addiction program. They sold baked goods, fidget spinners and slime.

Several dance classes showed off their skills, including a group that danced to “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” dressed as firefighters and police officers to thank responders for their service during the lockdown at the beginning of the summer.

Some acts had the audience singing and clapping along with the children.

“We start every day with singing and dancing,” Fondulis said. “They’ve got music in their soul. This is how we get motivated.”

The presentation also featured short claymation videos students had worked on. Some used mixed media, combining live action and claymation, others used Legos, a green screen or clay models.

The CARE program is funded through the national 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant.