WILTON – Cushing schoolchildren filed out of their classrooms Monday afternoon, each holding a paper one-car train they’d decorated.

Green. Blue. Orange. Yellow. Most were multicolored, including one that was red with pink wheels. And some even had pictures of the student creator in the middle of the train.

They took a seat while their teachers hung their trains along the hallway. As they waited, they sang “Jingle Bells” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

Once their trains were up they hurried to the meeting room, where each received a gold ticket on “The Polar Express” from Cushing School to the North Pole.

Ahhh.

They took a seat on the gymnasium floor for an afternoon meeting instead of a more-usual morning one. It was time to hear the story by Chris Van Allsburg.

Teacher Christine Harrington read the story and showed the story’s pictures, while librarian Rhonda Schanck and speech therapist Patsy Sills showed the pictures so all could see.

The story goes like this: Late one Christmas Eve, after a town has gone to sleep, a boy boards a mysterious train that waits for him: the Polar Express bound for the North Pole.

When the boy arrives, Santa offers him any gift he desires. The boy modestly asks for one bell from a reindeer’s harness. Santa gives him a silver bell, but on the way home the bell is lost.

On Christmas morning, the boy finds the bell under the tree with a note from Mr. C. When the boy shakes it, it makes the most beautiful sound he’s ever heard. Yet a family member says it must be broken because there is no sound. “For you see, only true believers can hear the sound of the bell,” as the story says.

Afterward, teachers passed out bells to the students – some on red string, others on white – so that, if they were believers, they’d hear a bell ringing.

This week, the school has all types of activities based on the theme of “The Polar Express.” Those include writing about special objects and, on Friday, wearing their pajamas over their clothes.

On Wednesday, there will be a drawing for movie tickets to see “The Polar Express,” which was released last month. Ten children will receive two tickets each, so an adult can take them to the movie.