Last week I attended two very different lovely graduation ceremonies. The first was an intimate gathering called the Butterfly Ceremony. Held in gazebo in the southern field of the park by my school, I happened upon this special Kindergarten moment. Each child had been given a large butterfly that they had painted or decorated with different scraps of tissue paper until their cutout was just as unique as they were.
In the gazebo stood the two Kindergarten classes and their teachers and around them an audience of seated parents. Each child was presented with a certificate certifying that they were ready to "fly" to first grade. As the teachers announced each child,they took a moment to say something special about them, read a list of characteristics their classmates attributed to them and to share a special memory that the child had written down the week before. These memories ranged from getting play together at recess to getting to rock the mike at our Poetry Jam. It was a lovely moment, followed later in the week by the big graduation.
Last Friday was the last day of my first full school year and time for my entire school community to say goodbye to our fifth graders. The gym was filled with fifth grade parents. There was a make shift stage set up for the graduates and two large tables heavy laden with cupcakes and doughnuts. I had never been to my school graduation before. My boss was all dressed up in cap and gown, but everyone else was just in formal wear, including the fifth grader. As it came closer to time, I noticed the children from other grade gathering outside the gym. Upon investigation, I learned that one of our traditions is to have a goodbye celebration archway. The archway is made of up of students and teachers who grab arms, much like London bridges....only done with the entire school. Everyone lined up in front of the door to the gym and when we spotted the fifth graders coming from the other building, somebody turned on a children's CD with a celebration song...and to my amazement the entire school began to sing..."We celebrate, Today we celebrate..."
And then one by one the fifth graders passed through the archway into the gym. There was a slide show and a reading poetry created by the fifth graders about their school experience. Then they were presented with diplomas and a before and after shirt with their Kindergarten picture on the front and their fifth grade picture on the back. There were speeches and jokes and at the end, children from every grade presented the fifth graders with a flower and a well wish for their future. Tear. And then, when the children from the other grades had left, all the specialists (non-grade level teachers like me who teach these kids art, music, Spanish, computers, and PE for all 6 years) got to give flowers and hugs to the graduates. By this time I was crying and many of the fifth graders were crying and it was a beautiful mess. Then they were asked to give their bouquets to their parents, with thanks for supporting them through this journey...and like that, what we had started together ended...and I found myself thinking about all the times I've graduated.
I've made a lifetime habit of finishing things and leaving them behind, but it isn't often that I'm the one left behind. It reminded me of why I didn't really want to be a teacher...you get your heart broken repeatedly. But I guess that's the nature of all things. We come, we learn, and then we leave it all behind...
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