Most people dread hitting the big 5-0, but Darin Aderholt is proud to celebrate 50 years of education at Julian Newman Elementary School. He joined hundreds of children in singing Happy Birthday to the school Friday as a former physical education aide popped out of a large cake.

“The kids ate that up,” Aderholt said. “They went nuts once we did that.”

Students celebrated the school’s 50-year anniversary Friday with a big party full of special guests. Julian Newman Jr., spoke to the children about his father, a former Athens City Schools superintendent who the school was named after, and Mayor Ronnie Marks gave an official celebratory proclamation.

“That was pretty cool for the kids, to have the mayor here doing that,” Aderholt said.

Twenty-eight retired teachers of JNES held their annual reunion lunch on the day and were treated to a video slideshow with memories of days gone by. Three of those retired teachers, Betty Dean Newman, Julia Hatchett and Peggy Belcher, taught when the school opened in 1964. Nancy Cutts Presley presided as principal of JNES for 22 years and was also honored at the event.

Aderholt said even if some of the children didn’t yet grasp the magnitude of the ceremony, the event was more about helping them understand its role in the community. Organizers accomplished this through having locals come in to read to the children.

David Carter, children’s minister at First Baptist Church of Athens, read— in character— Maurice Sendak’s 1964 classic “Where the Wild Things Are.” Poet Frank Travis, who Aderholt said is a “longtime friend of Julian Newman,” also shared his work with the kids.

As students prepare to go on break for the holidays, they ended the party by sharing another video about giving thanks— thanks for a school that has helped them and their families for the last five decades.

“It was a very packed 47 minutes, with a lot of great information for the kids about our school, the history of the school and some entertainment too,” Aderholt said. “I think everybody had real good things to say about it.”

Former JNES students have since grown up to be the leaders of Athens and are now enjoying getting to see their own children and grandchildren walk the halls. Even relatives of former longtime teachers are receiving an education there. Aderholt said that makes the school even more special instead of simply being 50 years old. He himself has been there 15 years and said counting Cutts Presley’s 22-year term and kindergarten teacher Synthia Howell’s 32-year teaching streak, the school hasn’t seen much leadership change in 50 years.

“It’s pretty neat,” he said. “It’s just a neat place to be with good people.”