Graduations
I was never a huge fan of my own graduations from school. Maybe it was because I've never really liked big receptions, and they all seem to come with one ... and I know my college graduation was tinged with the fact that I had to go right back into student teaching the day after that crazy weekend of ceremonies.
Somehow that's all different when I'm watching the students that I've helped for a year or two now graduate from eighth grade. I'm not sure what serves to change my attitude: maybe it's simply that I'm not the center of attention at these ceremonies and receptions ... in fact, I think I nearly got run over a few times this year, unseen. Maybe it's because I can see all of the effort that goes into these achievements so much more clearly because I'm coming at it as an adult helping the students put all of that work into it. Maybe it's because, for the first time, I'm able to hear all of the discussions and the worry before graduation about whether or not all of the students will be allowed to graduate. Last year, we only had 8 out of 10 students graduate - this year I'm proud to write that we had all 18 of our eighth graders graduate.
I also rearranged my schedule at school today (after lots of conflicts!) in order to attend the kindergartners' graduation this morning. Somehow it doesn't quite invoke the same emotions in me as the eighth grade graduation the night before, there's still a faint sense of nostalgia that I can sense, even over the adorableness of four-, five- and six-year-olds in paper graduation caps, lingering in the air along with all of the decorations left out after the eighth grade reception.
I had a wonderful time at both ceremonies and at both receptions. I took lots of pictures, and enjoyed the two songs sang at each of the ceremonies and the slideshow and personal stories shared by the students at the eighth grade graduation. I even got two carnations, one blue and one white, during the eighth grade ceremony as each student came out into the audience to give their parents red roses and each teacher carnations!
However, over all of this mist of memories and quick efforts to congratulate the graduates last night, and catch the pictures of the graduates this morning; over all of the excitement of seeing seven of our eight graduates from last year returning to celebrate their friends' graduation this year; over the astonished faces greeting the limo hired to take the 18 eighth graders and one adult chaperone around town for two hours last night, one moment stands out as my favorite.
It happened last night, in a brief encounter with Shawnta, one of the graduates. I saw her and made a point of stopping to congratulate her. Instead of simply saying thanks, as most of the graduates did, she came over, gave me a hug, and commented, "Thanks for helping us in math! It made the class a bit easier to understand!"
I might be wrong, but I think that moment somehow summarizes exactly why I enjoy going to these graduation ceremonies and receptions so much more than my own. Somehow, in a very weird way, these ceremonies are just as much mine as all of those ceremonies that I attended in caps and gowns myself, because I worked just as hard for this week's ceremonies as I did for those.
Somehow that's all different when I'm watching the students that I've helped for a year or two now graduate from eighth grade. I'm not sure what serves to change my attitude: maybe it's simply that I'm not the center of attention at these ceremonies and receptions ... in fact, I think I nearly got run over a few times this year, unseen. Maybe it's because I can see all of the effort that goes into these achievements so much more clearly because I'm coming at it as an adult helping the students put all of that work into it. Maybe it's because, for the first time, I'm able to hear all of the discussions and the worry before graduation about whether or not all of the students will be allowed to graduate. Last year, we only had 8 out of 10 students graduate - this year I'm proud to write that we had all 18 of our eighth graders graduate.
I also rearranged my schedule at school today (after lots of conflicts!) in order to attend the kindergartners' graduation this morning. Somehow it doesn't quite invoke the same emotions in me as the eighth grade graduation the night before, there's still a faint sense of nostalgia that I can sense, even over the adorableness of four-, five- and six-year-olds in paper graduation caps, lingering in the air along with all of the decorations left out after the eighth grade reception.
I had a wonderful time at both ceremonies and at both receptions. I took lots of pictures, and enjoyed the two songs sang at each of the ceremonies and the slideshow and personal stories shared by the students at the eighth grade graduation. I even got two carnations, one blue and one white, during the eighth grade ceremony as each student came out into the audience to give their parents red roses and each teacher carnations!
However, over all of this mist of memories and quick efforts to congratulate the graduates last night, and catch the pictures of the graduates this morning; over all of the excitement of seeing seven of our eight graduates from last year returning to celebrate their friends' graduation this year; over the astonished faces greeting the limo hired to take the 18 eighth graders and one adult chaperone around town for two hours last night, one moment stands out as my favorite.
It happened last night, in a brief encounter with Shawnta, one of the graduates. I saw her and made a point of stopping to congratulate her. Instead of simply saying thanks, as most of the graduates did, she came over, gave me a hug, and commented, "Thanks for helping us in math! It made the class a bit easier to understand!"
I might be wrong, but I think that moment somehow summarizes exactly why I enjoy going to these graduation ceremonies and receptions so much more than my own. Somehow, in a very weird way, these ceremonies are just as much mine as all of those ceremonies that I attended in caps and gowns myself, because I worked just as hard for this week's ceremonies as I did for those.