[KHTS] – One of them had traveled from as far away as the United Kingdom. One had 20 great-grandchildren. They were were just two of hundreds gathered at North Park Elementary School in Valencia on Tuesday morning to celebrate Grandparents’ Day with the students.

Principal Pete Bland said that although National Grandparents’ Day happens in early September, the school chooses to celebrate during the Thanksgiving season to tie it in with a holiday that families are already celebrating together.

Students in transitional kindergarten through the sixth grade welcomed grandparents into their classroom to participate in crafts, games and share stories of what school and childhood were like when they were young.

One first grade class played a game called “What’s that old stuff?”–a guessing game with several tools like a bellows that grandparents would recognize.

Other classes demonstrated what they were learning, drew a family crest or shared special memories about their grandparents.

Bland said that the response is always “overwhelmingly positive” for this event.

Every year, even as other programs have to be cut, Grandparents’ Day is always the first to go on the calendar. The school has been doing the program for at least five years.

“This is one event that is non negotiable,” Bland said.