The summer cycle launches
This
week marks the end of school for many students. Certainly it's a rush because
there are no more teachers, no more books, no more dirty looks, so goes the
song – "School's out for Summer." The boost for us in Catholic School was
that we got to wear civies instead of our uniform white shirt and khaki pants,
or plaid skirt for the girls. The horror for me was that I had to wear
something that matched, which in the 70s was a challenge.
While
my sons don't wear khaki pants, they do have uniforms of sorts but the rules
have relaxed as D-Day draws closer. The girls are wearing their favorite skirts
or blouses; non-regulation T-shirts are seen in the 5th grade wing;
and the shorts are baggier.
My two
younger sons will have typical end of year parties with games and cakes, which
my wife baked for each boy's class. They may or may not check for a few last
minute items left in their desks or lockers, depending on their levels of
distraction that day. It's possible they might get one or two more signatures
in their yearbooks. Huh. We didn't have grade school yearbooks back in the day.
I do
remember at the end of 3rd grade, I was nervous about 4th
grade, much as my middle son was after his 3rd grade year. There was
a sense of the unknown—the unfamiliar that loomed at the end of three
months off. Would the teacher be nice or mean? How hard would the work be?
Would I be in a class with friends? Would I finally be as tall as the other
kids? (That would be a no.)
My
middle son did fine in 4th grade, by the way and will also handle 5th
grade well. He follows his older brother who goes on to middle school without
any trepidation – looking forward all the way. He's already started his
summer reading and ready to put grade school behind him, except that there is a
final obligation in the form of a promotion ceremony. While I'm not sure
graduating grade school warrants accolade, leaving one place for another to
move forward in life is often worth recognition. And I think the school will be
a very different place without my son and his classmates.
Ah,
but that leaves room for others to shine, including my youngest who is finishing
the 1st grade. For all three boys and their schoolmates, the last
day will be a well-earned day to cut loose after the final roll call. And with
the final ring of the bell, that mad stampede for the streets will be followed
by a deafening silence. That is until the first ring on the first day when the
cycle starts all over–again.
Copyright 2008 by David Falloure
