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Today was the last day of school, before the start of summer vacation, for the Syracuse City School District. It's been a busy week, starting with Monday's "walking field trip" to the restored Palace Theater on James Street, for a movie and the final third grade award ceremony of the current school year.
Jason got his usual certificates for perfect attendance and 100% homework completion for the month and we all enjoyed popcorn, juiceboxes, and the movie The Lorax. I had hoped that his dad and grandma would be able to make it to this one, but both had to work--his dad because he was scheduled and his grandma because she had to cover a repair bill on our son's car. But that's another story.
On Tuesday, the entire third grade was bussed out to the Willow Bay picnic area at Long Branch Park where the school had reserved a small pavillion about a stone's throw from Onondaga Lake. The kids brought footballs, frisbees, lacrosse sticks, roller blades and other fun stuff, along with bag lunches, and everyone had a great time.
Temperatures in the high nineties had been forecast, along with high humidity, but it was actually a bit cooler due to a storm front that had passed through several hours earlier than expected, which also allowed for things to start drying off by the time of our arrival.
Jason has a whole crew of boys that he now plays with and when he remarked that this was the first year he'd ever gotten into so much trouble in school I answered that this was the first year he'd had so many friends to get into trouble with. He'd brought his old soccer ball, along with the football we'd bought last year so he could learn to throw it, but he spent the whole day playing football with the other boys.
I think the football, and the time we spent last year practicing our throwing and catching, remains one of the best investments we've ever made for him because it allowed him to join this group, before school and during recess, and sort of cement relationships that had started in the classroom but which now exist on a whole other level. So, yeah, it was a good thing to have done.
Then, on Wednesday night, we went and picked out "thank you" cards for his teacher, one for him to give and one for me. He picked out a really cute, whimsical card and then got up early, on his own, to write something in it. We also enclosed a wallet-sized photo of him in his soccer uniform which I think his teacher will find both poignant and amusing. He has this cute little closed-mouth grin that he always assumes when he poses for school or team pictures.
Today, before the end of the scheduled half-day, I went up to his classroom and watched as the kids filed out, one last time in "ABC order," and it was really touching to see the hugs and the tearful goodbyes and the wishes for a safe and fun-filled summer.
As the last kid came out the door, I gave his teacher the card I'd bought for her along with a note saying what a good year it'd been for Jason and how we appreciated knowing, especially with the turmoil at home, that we were sending him, each school day, into a safe and nurturing environment.
Truly, that has meant a lot, to us and to him. It's something that will never be understood by those who so thoughtlessly attack and demean these teachers and the education system they work so hard to sustain, often in the face of odds beyond anything their critics could possibly endure or even imagine.
And so we leave them, until next year, with a few greeting cards, a few tears, and a scattering of wishes that life will bring them back here to begin it all again, as the days are cooling and the leaves are turning and our precious children are one more summer further on, in their journey toward adulthood...
LPK
LiveJournal
6.21.2012 (a)
Jason got his usual certificates for perfect attendance and 100% homework completion for the month and we all enjoyed popcorn, juiceboxes, and the movie The Lorax. I had hoped that his dad and grandma would be able to make it to this one, but both had to work--his dad because he was scheduled and his grandma because she had to cover a repair bill on our son's car. But that's another story.
On Tuesday, the entire third grade was bussed out to the Willow Bay picnic area at Long Branch Park where the school had reserved a small pavillion about a stone's throw from Onondaga Lake. The kids brought footballs, frisbees, lacrosse sticks, roller blades and other fun stuff, along with bag lunches, and everyone had a great time.
Temperatures in the high nineties had been forecast, along with high humidity, but it was actually a bit cooler due to a storm front that had passed through several hours earlier than expected, which also allowed for things to start drying off by the time of our arrival.
Jason has a whole crew of boys that he now plays with and when he remarked that this was the first year he'd ever gotten into so much trouble in school I answered that this was the first year he'd had so many friends to get into trouble with. He'd brought his old soccer ball, along with the football we'd bought last year so he could learn to throw it, but he spent the whole day playing football with the other boys.
I think the football, and the time we spent last year practicing our throwing and catching, remains one of the best investments we've ever made for him because it allowed him to join this group, before school and during recess, and sort of cement relationships that had started in the classroom but which now exist on a whole other level. So, yeah, it was a good thing to have done.
Then, on Wednesday night, we went and picked out "thank you" cards for his teacher, one for him to give and one for me. He picked out a really cute, whimsical card and then got up early, on his own, to write something in it. We also enclosed a wallet-sized photo of him in his soccer uniform which I think his teacher will find both poignant and amusing. He has this cute little closed-mouth grin that he always assumes when he poses for school or team pictures.
Today, before the end of the scheduled half-day, I went up to his classroom and watched as the kids filed out, one last time in "ABC order," and it was really touching to see the hugs and the tearful goodbyes and the wishes for a safe and fun-filled summer.
As the last kid came out the door, I gave his teacher the card I'd bought for her along with a note saying what a good year it'd been for Jason and how we appreciated knowing, especially with the turmoil at home, that we were sending him, each school day, into a safe and nurturing environment.
Truly, that has meant a lot, to us and to him. It's something that will never be understood by those who so thoughtlessly attack and demean these teachers and the education system they work so hard to sustain, often in the face of odds beyond anything their critics could possibly endure or even imagine.
And so we leave them, until next year, with a few greeting cards, a few tears, and a scattering of wishes that life will bring them back here to begin it all again, as the days are cooling and the leaves are turning and our precious children are one more summer further on, in their journey toward adulthood...
LPK
LiveJournal
6.21.2012 (a)
