Ahoy matey! Pirates make their way to Horse Creek Academy in Aiken.

Stephanie Hill, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·2 min read

Sep. 19—"Ahoy matey!" and "Argh!" were just some of the phrases that could be heard throughout Horse Creek Academy in Aiken on Monday.

That's because the charter school was celebrating International Talk Like a Pirate Day on Monday by dressing up as pirates.

Sarah Morris, the assessment and community relations director at HCA, said the students and staff dress up every year.

"We do Dress Like a Pirate Day for International Talk Like a Pirate Day," Morris said. "It always seems like a fun way to build community with something kind of silly and not so serious, but we also try to integrate it into what we do in the classes throughout the day just as a way to bond together throughout the grade levels."

First-grade teacher April Gattis dressed up like a pirate alongside her students .

"I love that we can have a day full of fun-filled activities so the kids can come in and be silly for a day," Gattis said.

During the day, her students did different pirate-themed activities, including coming up with their pirates names, which included One Ear Gert and Black Tooth Bonnie, and cracking the pirate code.

"We are going to be doing a math activity later on with addition, and the students are going to be learning how to add pirates onto a ship," Gattis said. "We are also going to be doing a writing about pirates on what pirates can have and what pirates are."

Jaq Cochran-Birchmore, a sixth-grade math teacher, said she enjoys the day because the teachers and students get to have a good time.

"Pirate Day is fun because we are allowed to express our silly selves with our students, and they like to see us get into the spirit of things," Cochran-Birchmore said.

Cochran-Birchmore had her students do a pirate-themed logic puzzle.

"It was a quizzle where they had to figure out what thing goes with the other, and they cannot repeat. One of those brain teasers they get into," Cochran-Birchmore said.

The school, which is 4K through 11th grade, had participants throughout all the grade levels, with Morris stating the participation was higher with the younger students.

"(It's) stronger in the elementary school, but we have a lot of great, spirited kids in middle and high that dress up, too, and staff," Morris said.