5th Grade Graduation

I blinked and now Andres is done with elementary school. This past Thursday night was his formal "graduation;" he's off to middle school this fall. Where did the time go? I'm not really 41, am I?

I think he had a good run over the past six years. He made a lot of good friends. His teachers praised his effort and genuinely seemed to like him. His favorite subjects were, roughly, PE, recess, snack, art, music, and then everything else.

Throughout his time at Horace Mann he did a bunch of reports, but for the life of me I cannot remember most of them. I know he studied the moon because he still has a small styrofoam model of the moon somewhere in his room. I also remember that he studied Peru for his country report in Grade 2, and at some point way back did a biography of Lionel Messi. I'm much fuzzier on the past couple years, though. I know he was working--and sometimes working hard--but on what, I cannot recall. Does this make me a bad parent? It might.

Here's what I do know: he can solve math problems a bunch of different ways, and he has become a pretty solid writer. This has surprised me, as he often struggles to express himself verbally--so I imagined that writing would be hard for him, too. But time and again I have been impressed with the creativity and authenticity of his written pieces. His stories are well thought-out, often funny, and his personal narratives are more introspective than I would have expected them to be. It seems that the huge emphasis on writing, writing, and writing at school has helped him find his voice.

The graduation ceremony, as I guess we should call it, was a nice one. We parents were all shoehorned into the gymnasium where I have watched the kids tumble, spin, and swing countless times for Peek Week. The soon-to-be graduates processed down an aisle in the middle of the gym, in order from tallest to shortest--meaning that my poor son was one of the last 5th graders to take his place on the risers. Once up there, they all began to sing "Lean on Me", and it didn't take long before most adults were in tears. (I was actually doing ok until I turned to look at a weepy Natalia, at which point I lost it.)

The future graduate.

Front and center!

Thankfully there was more than just signing. Principal Nardelli gave a nice speech to the kids about making mistakes (good advice for middle school, I guess), and six of Andres' classmates shared their own reflections and memories from the past few years. One of the speakers, Guy, even mentioned Andres, saying that he was a welcoming friend when Guy moved to Newton in second grade.

After that, each of the kids was called up to receive his or her "certificate of completion." They ended by singing Greenday's "Time of Your Life"--a song that I still can't believe they wrote--and then processed out to Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway." Boom, done with elementary school.

The ACNS crew.

Best buddies.

Andres has been ready for the end of elementary school for a while. I think he's looking for the increased freedom and, perhaps, different challenges that will come with going to Day. I'm the one who is having a harder time adjusting to his being old enough for middle school.

After graduation, he told me he noticed that both me and Natalia were crying when he was onstage. "Why were you crying? Weren't you happy that I was graduating?" he asked.

"Of course," I said, as memories of his birth, his learning to walk, his first words, and his first days in Kindergarten flickered through my head. "Of course."