Pomp and Circumstance

Heavy on the pomp.

The school year has wrapped up for my sweet little students. Unfortunately for me, I have a few more weeks of sitting around in a dismantled classroom. The week before last we sent Grade 3 off with a nicely planned but loooong graduation ceremony. (My school only runs KG-3 so the students are “graduating” to Grade 4 at a new school).

I had been dreading saying goodbye to my girls all year. I taught them for two years and they were my first official classroom of students who were all mine. We went through a lot together. Laughing, crying, screaming (there were some bad times, ok?)…

A few days before their graduation the girls began to get extra lovey. One student drew a picture of herself crying and explained to me, “I am sad because I go new school.” Then she joined the crew crafting out this message:

As their graduation approached, I was nervous. I didn’t want to cry in front of all my students, their mothers, and the staff. Turns out, it was much easier to see them go than I thought. Somewhere between yelling at them to stop playing with the copy machine and their disregard for our practiced song formation, I started to feel a bit relieved. Honestly, if we had gone on for a third year together… someone was going to get hurt. (Figuratively, don’t worry!)

[Full disclosure: I did cry a bit during a rose ceremony where the girls stood up and thanked certain teachers, including me, while placing roses in a vase. It was super sweet.]

The ceremony itself was quite the production. There was recitation, singing, dancing, acting, costume changes, slideshows, gifts, and cake. Boy, was there cake. The most amazing cake I’ve ever seen. A giant cake made from 6 individual cakes. With a student’s face on top. Oh. Yes.

Also worth mentioning was the gift giving portion of the ceremony. Every student received a gift from the school. Every teacher received a gift from the Mothers Council. Individual students gave gifts to their classmates and their teachers. It was a bit out of control. My personal haul included: A bouquet of 4 roses from my entire class, a bouquet of a dozen roses from a student, 2 roses and a tea set from the Mothers Council, a necklace, fake flowers, potpourri, a gel candle, and a picture frame all from students. Excessive, but sweet.