By Staff
Story and photos by Mary-Allison Lancaster
Shrill squeals and giggles could be heard from Brewton Elementary School first-graders Tuesday morning as the annual frog jump contest erupted on school grounds.
For nearly five years, first-grade students have spent countless hours - or maybe just minutes - capturing frogs from all over town to bring to the frog jump. Teachers advise students to bring their frogs in tightly closed containers.
First-grade teacher Stephanie Dolihite said the first-graders finished their final class unit on amphibians and frogs and at the end of the year, the culminating activity is always the frog jump.
Dolihite said she has a picture of herself &#8220kissing” a frog in her classroom and told her students her frog had turned into her husband.
Six first-grade classes competed against each other, and the final six winners of each class went to the final round to have his or her frog crowned the champion.
Frogs ranged in various sizes from some as small as a fingernail to Nash Diercks' bullfrog, which created quite a buzz when it escaped twice - the second time into the parking lot.
Diercks and his mother, Carin, along with several teachers spent some time underneath a truck trying to coax the bullfrog from underneath.
Once the bullfrog was caught, Diercks brought it to the start line where it appeared his frog had become jump shy. But, with a sprinkle of water, the frog was clearly the biggest leaper of them all.
Diercks said he caught his frog on the campus Jefferson Davis Community College, and he said he wanted to name his frog &#8220Big Frog.”
His mother said the bullfrog spent the night in the garage, and at one point caused such a ruckus they had to place a Hawaiian Tropics container over it to keep it contained.
She said they went to the golf course at night, and shined a flashlight near the water. There, hundreds of bullfrogs could be heard croaking.
First-grader O'Neil White said he got his grandmother to help him out with the capture of his frog.
The last day for Brewton students is today.
Graduation for T.R. Miller High School will be held at 7 p.m. Friday at JDCC.