The cafeteria of Kenwood Elementary School was overtaken by eccentric characters from distant lands Wednesday night as they told the tale of “The Magic Paintbrush.”

By Heather Osbourne | 315-4440 | @heatheronwfdn | hosbourne@nwfdailynews.com

FORT WALTON BEACH — Kenwood Elementary School celebrated its fairy tale-themed Literacy Week Wednesday with a magical performance by Stage Crafters Community Theatre.

The cafeteria of Kenwood Elementary School was overtaken by eccentric characters from distant lands Wednesday night as they told the tale of “The Magic Paintbrush.”

“This is the first time Stage Crafters has ever worked with the schools,” said Joan Pickard, principal of Kenwood Elementary School. “They have written this play just for us tonight.”

Stage Crafter’s actors — performing as mimes, queens and even cats — taught the enraptured audience of students what kindness can do to help a community in need.

Stage Crafters coordinator Chris Laporta, or Glimmer Glittertale as she was known Wednesday, said the group hopes to start performing in Northwest Florida schools on a regular basis.

“We really want to get into the community more,” Laporta said. “We just really feel this could help the community and help us get known in the community.”

After the performance, students gathered again to play Bonkers for Books, a spinoff of bingo. The prizes, of course, were books.

Kenwood student Jackson Brown, dressed in military fatigues, proudly picked out the book “Monsters, Inc.” after being the first to yell “Bonkers!”

Lynn Griggs, a reading teacher at Kenwood, said staff plan to monitor the library and see if Literacy Week has increased student interest in reading.

“We’re going to see if they’re picking out more books,” Griggs said. “We’re trying to encourage lifelong learners that love to read. We’re trying to flood them with experiences and different types of literature.”