Graduation Anticipation

Tomorrow is a big day in my life. Our school will be graduating another class of seniors, one of whom will be my baby daughter. Along with her, we will be sending off some of my long-time students, still very near and dear to my heart. 

It's guaranteed to be a happy, emotional, bittersweet, proud, nostalgic, lump-in-the-throat kind of day.

So I am doing what any self-respecting postmodern woman would do in this situation. I'm keeping myself super busy so I won't dwell on the emotion. Ha.

Graduation is always a busy time for our program. Our commencement ceremonies, like every other aspect of our funky little school, are personal, quirky and very much a community event.

Because our graduating classes are small, we can build a lot of very personal touches into our ceremony. For example, each student is called to the stage by name, one at a time, to receive her diploma. As the student walks up, the announcer reads a few words, written ahead of time by the student, about her plans for the future. Behind the stage hang handmade banners that list each and every graduate's first name, highlighted with glitter. Compared to most other graduations, the pace of the diploma ceremony slows to a crawl, but that's how we like it. Each student is given a time to shine in the spotlight, and then the audience enthusiastically applauds before we move on to the next. 

My youngest put together the banner that lists all the graduates' names
today. She and I have upheld this tradition for five years now,
and we are so honored to provide this personal touch.

Here's a really quirky thing about our school: we recognize parents (almost always the mothers) as the primary educators of their students. Responding to their students' wants, needs, passions and choices, parents have amazing flexibility to create learning experiences that work best for their student and that is what makes our school amazing. So when it's time for a student to receive her diploma, who meets her up on the stage and puts it into her hand? Her mom. 

Quirky, yes, But also moving, sweet, and altogether fitting. 

And guess what. As mother passes the diploma to her graduate, the student hands a fresh flower to her mother. It's a lovely gesture that symbolizes the special bond between parent and student in our unique program, and I can't wait for that wonderful moment of closure. 

Here are the flowers that our graduates will hand to their mommies
tomorrow evening. Gerber daisies are a perfect choice to
represent our graduates - bright, bold and singularly beautiful.

Another truly remarkable aspect of our program is that we serve students of all ages. Yep, we are a K-12 program, which means some students, like my daughter, have been going to this same program for their entire school career. Many of her classmates have been her friends since they were five years old. But our friendship circles are much broader and richer than that; we all know each others' siblings and parents because for all these years, we have been going to school together. So when graduation time rolls around each year, everyone shows up to celebrate! Students and their families come to graduation even if they aren't graduating, just to see the other kids graduate. Many of our alumni come back, maybe because a younger sibling is graduating, or maybe because it just feels good to go home again. Kind of like a family reunion.

Which means that our graduation ceremonies have a special air of celebration  and community. I'm working on some special decorations this year to help create a festive mood, and I'll have more photos of them to share tomorrow, when they are in place.

I've been busy painting - tomorrow, I'll be installing and hoping that
it all works out according to my vision.

Just one more night of dreaming about my graduation to-do lists, and then in the morning, I'll be up bright and early and off to school to finish decorating. Can't wait for this exciting, emotional day!