SANDPOINT — "Did you hear the one about the Liberty Bell?"

"Yeah, it cracked me up."

The students of Sandpoint Christian School indeed "cracked up" the audience, as well as elicited cheers and applause, on March 20 during the school's annual Grandparent's/VIP Day event. The day kicked off with a patriotic-themed program where the students sang, danced, played instruments and, of course, told jokes like the one above.

While the annual event has been ongoing for several years, this is the second year of the patriotic theme, said school principal, Liz Page. It is a way to honor veterans and show that patriotism is an important component of the school's program, she said.

"We want them to see that we are teaching patriotism to our students, which is kind of rare today with a lot of schools not even doing the Pledge of Allegiance," Page said. "So we want to show them that is a part of our program, to teach kids to be proud of their country."

The event also encourages the older generation and children to get together, Page said. And it is not just for grandparents, she said, as a lot of "substitute" grandparents come as well, hence the "VIP" in the name.

Students donned their red, white and blue apparel, with each grade level performing a different song or act before taking their grandparents and VIPs to their respective classrooms.

"We stumbled upon this plan that just works beautifully for Christmas and this program, where we have a theme and every teacher comes up with their own little vignette," Page said. "... I love the variety of what everybody comes up with."

It give the students more freedom to choose what they want to do, because, for example, the middle school students don't always want to sing. During last week's program, the seventh- and eighth-graders chose to do a skit called, "Are You Smarter Than a Middle School Student?" The "host" would ask would patriotic-themed questions, such as "In what month and year was the United States flag first flown?" The team answered correctly with August 1777. The flag was commissioned by Congress on June 14, 1777, which is why June 14 is Flag Day, added another student. If a team answered incorrectly, however, they would have to announce, "I am not smarter than a middle school student."

The program started with a rendition of "Our Flag" by the preschool and pre-k classes, followed by the kindergarten class singing, "Oh, I Love America," as each of the youngsters held up a letter to spell "America." It was the first- and second-graders who told the Liberty Bell joke, along with several others, after performing the song, "Freedom Rings."

The third- and fourth-grade classes busted out the flutophones to perform "Grand Old Flag," followed by a medley of "This Land is My Land" and "God Bless America." The fifth- and sixth-graders decided the audience needed a recap on the nation's state capitals, and performed the "States and Capitals Extravaganza" in tune with Wakko from the classic '90s cartoon, "Animaniacs." The seventh- and eighth-graders followed with their skit.

The final acts were new addition to the school this year, as SCS started an orchestra and a handbell choir in October.

"We are so proud of them and it is so great to bring in music like that," Page said.

The orchestra conductor, Tiffany Simeral, taught music at another Christian school before coming to SCS this year, Page said, and SCS was also able to purchase many of the instruments from Simeral's former school. The instruments played by the students included violins, cellos, double bass and more.

The orchestra and handbell choir, each comprised of students from multiple grade levels, performed at Christmas and Grandparent's/VIP Day, Page said, and will again perform during the school's open house from 6-8 p.m. on May 24.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.