Disneyland Surprises Students at Two California Schools with Disney Field Days!

Disneyland Brings Surprise Field Days to California Students

As a heartwarming continuation of Disneyland and The Walt Disney Company’s commitment to the Los Angeles wildfire recovery efforts, students at two schools in Brentwood, CA were surprised with exciting Disney Field Days!

Related – Disney Announces ‘LA Strong’ T-Shirts to Support California Fire Relief

Disney brought the magic directly to students at Nora Sterry Elementary School and Brentwood Science Magnet with surprise afternoon field days. Over 16 beloved Disney characters joined in the fun, which included hands-on activities, interactive games, and gift bags filled with Disney Consumer Products. More than 900 students participated in these events, which offered a joyful experience for both schools, each having welcomed students displaced by the Los Angeles wildfires in the Palisades region.

“Disney has called Los Angeles home for more than a hundred years, and while the fires were still raging, we made a commitment — to be there for the community as it recovers and begins to rebuild,” Lisa Haines, SVP of Corporate Social Responsibility, The Walt Disney Company, said. “That’s really what today is all about and we couldn’t be more excited to be here.”

A Helping Hand

Earlier this year, as the wildfires in LA were being contained, Disney reached out to Alberto Carvalho, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Superintendent, asking how the company could help. 

Disney quickly provided a monetary donation to the LAUSD Education Foundation to help impacted teachers and collaborated with LAUSD on ways that the company could spruce up the schools. Those enhancement projects won’t begin until the summer, so the company decided to do something only Disney could do more immediately. 

The result was the teams from Disney Experiences and Disneyland Live Entertainment and Events jumping into action to create Disney Field Day!  

“A Little Joy, Happiness and Some Hope”

Last Friday afternoon, the students at Nora Sterry Elementary School in Brentwood, CA had an inkling that they were in for a delightful surprise. And judging by the Mickey Ears and characters shirts they were wearing, they suspected the surprise was coming from Disney. 

While Cast Members like John Breckow, Director of Corporate Citizenship, Disney Experiences, could tell the students knew something was brewing at their school, “I’m not sure they knew how MUCH fun they were about to have,” Breckow said.

Beyond their schoolyards being transformed with fun-filled activities, the students were also visited by beloved characters such as Mickey Mouse, Moana, Rey, and more, from brands like Disney Animation Studios, Princesses, Pixar Studios, Lucasfilm, Marvel, and, of course, some more Classic Disney pals. 

Dara Renee and Josh Colley from Descendants: The Rise of Red and Meg Donnelly and Trevor Tordjman from  Zombies made appearances at the events, and Disney Consumer Products provided plush for gift bags and giveaways. 

“Our main goal was to bring a little joy, happiness and some hope to these students who have shown so much resilience and been through so much this year,” Breckow said. “And not just the Palisades students who relocated, but the Brentwood students who so generously received them at their schools.”

Replacing What Was Lost 

Two special moments occurred at Brentwood when a student and teacher were given special gifts to replace items lost in the fires.

The first was to Pre-K teacher Ms. Lam, who had a collection of Mickey Ear hats and Ear Bands that were lost in the fire. Ms. Lam and her students were amazed as more and more VoluntEARS entered the classroom to gift her hats, exclaiming “MORE EARS?” before finally landing on an amazing 51 in total.

Felicity, a student at Brentwood Science Magnet, lost her favorite plush tiger in the fire. The team behind the event decided to bring her a new tiger plush. But they made it extra Disney special for Felicity by bringing Tigger along, “who came bouncing out to meet her in front of a 100-acre wood scene,” Breckow said. “The smile on her face in that moment is why I work at Disney.” 

Volunteering in Disney’s DNA

The events were made even more special thanks to the Cast Members who jumped in to help, including about 75 VoluntEARS who did everything from stuffing gift bags for the students to moving them seamlessly from adventure to adventure to everything else in between.

“Volunteering is really in our DNA at Disney,” Breckow noted. “We simply couldn’t create magical moments like these without the energy, positivity, and commitment of our employees and Cast Members.”

Bringing all these Disney teams together to create moments of happiness and joy where it’s needed most “was another wonderful example of how we can bring the ‘best of Disney,’” Breckow said.

The Latest Effort

Disney Field Day! is just the latest effort in The Walt Disney Company’s continued support of its community and employees in the LA area in the aftermath of the wildfire crisis. In addition to our work with LAUSD, Disney has provided a monetary donation to the Pasadena Educational Foundation and is in conversations with Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) to bring special experiences like these to the students and teachers impacted by the Eaton Fire.