On a nice evening in early June, Andrew graduated from Kindergarten.
I’ve got to say that at first blush, I wasn’t a big fan of the idea of Kindergarten graduation. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate, I thought, to have an ice cream party and say “Yay! You’ve made it through your first year!” But a full-out graduation ceremony?? Even middle school graduation strikes me as a little silly. I love to celebrate milestones, but doesn’t it somehow make other graduations (like college or graduate school) kinda blase. These kids are expected and required to pass from KG to first grade. So we can celebrate that they’ve met their requirements? I sort of shrugged and smiled and went along.
The morning of the graduaiton, Andrew was really excited, and I thought that was sweet.
Then as we sat in our metal folding chairs in the gym, Andrew’s class started to file in…
…and my heart melted.
Look at how excited they all are!
Oh, did you ever see such a sweet and earnest guy?
Look at me! I’m now a fan of Kindergarten graduations! My heart has been won over by the adorable nature of the students. I look at them all up there on stage, and I imagine the years going by like the scenery flashing past the windows on a train. If we stay at this school, Andrew could know many of these kids for the next 12 years. As I watched them smile and wave to parents and goof off together, I could still see them all for the little people they still are. They’re just past being preschoolers! But I can also see shadows of the teens that they will grow to become. Oh, the emotion! I shake my head at the wonder of it all.
Bryan, Sylvia, and Tom joined us for the afternoon ceremony.
As the principal called each child’s name, they came up, shook Maestra Laura’s hand,
walked across the stage (some kids nearly leaped across the stage, so great was their excitement!),
and shook hands with the acting principal.
Then each student received his or her certificate of graduation,
and held it up for a quick photo moment.
Andrew held his up for an extra moment just to make sure I captured it. I do so love that little guy!
Nuestro Mundo Community School has three Kindergarten classes, and after they’d all received their certificates and sang their songs, we adjourned to eat cookies and drink juice. A potent sugar combination at 2:30pm.
Here’s Andrew and Sylvia with Maestra Laura. Boy did we get lucky this year to have such a great teacher for our guy.
Party, party, party!
Sylvia (a.k.a. Angelina Ballerina) is pointing out an “s”. That’s “s” for Sylvia. The wonderful thing? She finds them everywhere!
So there you have our Kindergarten graduation experience. My little guy is now on his way to being a first grader. There’s no stopping him now. Reminds me of a post I wrote on July 8, 2005:
“Bryan and I have been having a wonderful time getting to know our precious little baby. A couple days ago, we took him for his first visit to Olbrich Botanical Gardens (see photos in the gallery). I think he liked hearing the birds and feeling the sunshine. His umbilical cord fell off too, so he’s pretty much an old man now.”
Go get ’em, Andrew!