Traditions That Tie Us Together: Then and Now
Graland Gallop
How It Started: The Graland Gallop began in the 1980s, started by a group of Graland parents before the Graland Parent Association (GPA) was officially formed. Originally held in Cranmer Park, the event was created for students, with runners receiving an ice cream cone after finishing the course.
How It’s Going: Today, the Gallop is organized and hosted by the GPA and has grown into an all-community event and fundraiser. Held each fall at Washington Park, the Gallop includes a 5K and a 1K fun run and walk for students, families, and educators, along with an appearance by the Graland Eagle.
Halloween Parade
How It Started: The Halloween Parade dates back to at least 1937, making it one of Graland’s longest-standing traditions. Early parades featured handmade costumes and included the entire school, even when enrollment was under 100 students. The parade was often led by longtime faculty members, including Mr. Chester Preisser—Graland’s shop and P.E. teacher and the namesake of Preisser Field—and Mr. Ray Eslinger, the school’s buildings and grounds supervisor, both known for dressing as ghouls. In later years, older students even built a student-made “spook house” for Lower School students.
The Great Pumpkin
How It Started: The Great Pumpkin tradition dates back to the years when Georgia Nelson was head of school, when Graland’s campus consisted of a single building surrounded by farmland. The legend was created by Mr. Preisser, who imagined a pumpkin patch growing on campus and one special pumpkin cared for by Kindergarten students. In the story, students fed the pumpkin food from their lunches, covered it with blankets, and read it stories until, near Halloween, it came to life as the Great Pumpkin.
To ensure that each new class of Kindergarten students could experience the tradition, Mr. Preisser also created the significance of the orange dot. A small orange dot placed on a student’s ear made Kindergarteners the only ones who could see the Great Pumpkin when it appeared.
How It’s Going: Today, the tradition continues each fall during the week of Halloween for Graland’s Kindergarten students. Members of Graland’s Athletics Department read the Great Pumpkin story from a book created by Graland’s Art Department and review the long-standing rules: silence during the search, no blinking, and no touching the Great Pumpkin. After receiving their orange dots, Kindergarteners return the following day for a spirited, campus-wide chase in search of the Great Pumpkin.
Buddy Program
How It Started: The Buddy Program began in the early 1980s as a structured way to build relationships between older and younger students, helping foster a sense of connection and care across the school.
How It’s Going: Today, every Graland student participates in the Buddy Program, with partnerships that remain consistent throughout the year. Buddy connections are woven into both everyday classroom moments and schoolwide traditions, with pairings that include Pre-K with Grade 8, Kindergarten with Grade 4, Grade 1 with Grade 5, Grade 2 with Grade 6, and Grade 3 with Grade 7.
How It’s Going: Today, those same themes carry on through Graland Cares, the VOA Snowflake Party, and Winter Wishes. Through the Graland Cares campaign, families prepare gift bags and handwritten notes for senior residents living in Volunteers of America housing. The VOA Snowflake Party brings Graland families and senior residents together for an evening that includes a shared meal, student performances, and the delivery of Graland Cares gift bags. The season also includes Winter Wishes, an all-school sing-along held before winter break, where each grade performs, often alongside its buddy grade.
Class Pets and Community Companions
How It Started:
From the late 1920s through the 1940s, animals were part of daily life on campus. Graland cared for a rotating group that included donkeys, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, and even pigs. Kindergarteners regularly rode in a decorated cart pulled by donkeys, a cart Mr. Preisser helped students build in shop class.
How It’s Going: Animals remain part of life at Graland today. Classroom pets include trout and a bearded dragon, and the campus is also home to Luna, Graland’s therapy dog.
Kindergarten Rodeo
How It Started: The Kindergarten Rodeo was created by Mrs. Bonnie Marvin in the 1960s and grew out of classroom studies of the American West. Early Rodeos featured activities such as scooter races, bucking bronco challenges, group dances (including the Chicken Dance), and handmade stick horses crafted from paper bags and other classroom materials.
How It’s Going: Today, the Rodeo remains the culminating celebration of months of learning. Throughout the year, students explore the history and culture of the American West through stories, guest speakers, writing assignments, and a visit to the National Western Stock Show. Students also build empathy by discussing the challenges faced by farmers and ranchers and designing tools to help solve those problems during Tinker Time. On Rodeo Day, students introduce their handmade horses and perform songs and dances at an all-school assembly, share their creations, and afterwards take part in a Western-themed field day with their buddies.
Holiday Performances & Community Outreach
How It Started: From Graland’s earliest years, the winter season has been shaped by both community and care for others. Families gathered on campus to build and repair toys for children in need, and just before winter break, truckloads of toys were delivered to local Denver fire stations for distribution to families. Holiday pageants were also part of the season, often written by students and performed by choral groups dressed in red robes.
How It’s Going: Today, those same themes carry on through Graland Cares, the VOA Snowflake Party, and Winter Wishes. Through the Graland Cares campaign, families prepare gift bags and handwritten notes for senior residents living in Volunteers of America housing. The VOA Snowflake Party brings Graland families and senior residents together for an evening that includes a shared meal, student performances, and the delivery of Graland Cares gift bags. The season also includes Winter Wishes, an all-school sing-along held before winter break, where each grade performs, often alongside its buddy grade.
Biography Tea to Biography Expo
How It Started: The second-grade Biography Tea became an annual tradition in the 1990s. Students selected historical figures, conducted research, took notes, wrote reports, and created timelines and posters. On presentation day, students dressed as their subjects while families circulated the room, “meeting” figures such as Benjamin Franklin, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Amelia Earhart.
Grade 4 Musical
How It Started: The first fourth-grade musical was produced in 1982–83, when Graland made a commitment to dramatic performance as part of the curriculum. From the beginning, every student participated. Families helped build sets and create costumes, and some classes even wrote original songs for their productions.
How It’s Going: Today, the fourth-grade musical continues to bring the entire grade together in a shared production. Every student takes part, whether onstage or behind the scenes, with performances presented in two casts and supported by a student stage crew. It remains a tradition that fourth graders look forward to each year.
How It’s Going: Today, the Biography Expo maintains the same emphasis on research and presentation, with an added focus on changemakers who might not be as well known. Students continue to speak in character and share their writing and visuals, while new elements—such as QR codes linking to student-created websites, projects designed in the Gates Innovation Lab, and symbolic shields created in art—have expanded how students tell their stories.
Middle School Overnight Trips
How It Started: Overnight trips became a defining part of the Graland student experience in the early 1970s. Early experiences included a fifth-grade trip to Singing River Ranch and a sixth-grade science trip to Camp Cheley in Estes Park. In 1971, sixth graders also began traveling to the Southwest to study ancient Puebloan culture near Mesa Verde. As the program expanded, trips were added for older students, including Keystone for Grade 7 in the 1970s and Creede for Grade 8 in the 1990s. When Graland included a ninth grade, students also participated in extended journeys, with trips to Taos and Santa Fe beginning in 1981 and Washington, D.C., beginning in 1988.
How It’s Going: Today, overnight trips begin in Grade 5 with a community-building trip to La Foret in the Black Forest. In Grade 6, students spend time at Keystone Science School and participate in the Southwest Trip near Mesa Verde. Grade 7 students visit Washington, D.C., to study democracy through monuments, museums, and historic sites, and Grade 8 students take part in a Civil Rights trip through the American South.
Knighting
How It Started: Knighting was introduced by Mrs. Ruth Gorham in the early 1930s as part of Graland’s study of the Middle Ages, emphasizing honor, service, and character. Students progressed from page to squire, completed acts of service, and created symbolic shields. The evening before the ceremony, students fasted and remained silent until Knighting took place the following day. Families gathered as students were presented to a court—traditionally including a king, queen, archbishop, and chancellor—and delivered speeches explaining why they were worthy of knighthood. The ceremony concluded with a procession and a banquet.
How It’s Going: Today, each fifth-grade advisory participates in its own Knighting ceremony, with many of the same elements. Students continue to study medieval history, complete acts of service, paint symbolic shields, and write and deliver speeches. Families gather as students are presented to a court and share the meaning behind their shields and the service they completed. The ceremony concludes with a procession and banquet, marking Knighting as a meaningful coming-of-age milestone that connects generations of Graland students.
How It’s Going: Each October, the Halloween Parade remains a campus-wide highlight. Students and educators parade in costume around Preisser Field as families line the route to watch and cheer. In recent years, the Graland art department has led the parade with coordinated costumes inspired by famous works of art.Graland Carnival
How It Started: The Carnival began in the 1970s and later became an eighth-grade fundraiser. Over the years, it featured classic games and student-run booths, including a “jail” that cost a quarter to put someone in and a fee to get out. Dunk tanks were another favorite, and one early Carnival was famously held during a snowstorm, with teachers braving freezing water.
How It’s Going: Today, the Carnival is organized and hosted by the GPA and takes place on the last day of school as an end-of-year celebration on Preisser Field. The event includes games, inflatables, food, sweet treats, and entertainment for all ages, with Grade 8 students volunteering to help run booths and activities as the community comes together to close the school year.
Graland Country Day School
Graland Country Day School is a private school in Denver, Colorado, serving students in preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and middle school. Founded in Denver in 1927, Graland incorporates a rich, experiential learning approach in a traditional classroom setting, emphasizing the development of globally and socially conscious leaders who excel academically.
