Noah's 5th Grade Promotion Ceremony

What a great moment in our day, in Noah's year and in the stepping stones of Noah's life. We had his 5th grade promotion ceremony this afternoon. Before I go any further, I must confess that Andy and I are exhausted, as we stayed up until 4:30 this morning trying to get the slideshow ready as part of the program. So, take everything I say with a grain of salt. :) Sleeping from 5-8 is just not enough for me--there's no beauty sleep there.


Noah wanted to stay home from school today as the children needed to be at the graduation at 12:20pm. So, we let him as a rite of passage. I took him to get his haircut which makes him look so handsome and really much older. This didn't help my emotional state any, to see him go from my "baby" Noah to big, middle school Noah all because of a haircut! He does look handsome doesn't he?
The ceremony was actually quite nice and I think typical for a 5th grade promotion ceremony. Ms. Shinn, the assistant principal, spoke. It is the 2oth anniversary of RCES and so she talked about what has changed in 20 years. Ipods, DVD technology, the 5th graders. It was really fun. Then our principal, Mr. C, spoke to the children. He was also on a high as his oldest daughter graduated yesterday! He told the kids to work hard and the time will be there before they know it!

Then it was time to walk across the stage and recieve their certificate. I love this part of the ceremony as each teacher gets to speak about their class and to their class. I feel like I'm being let in on a secret, that I'm finding out for the first time, some of the things that happened in school and in class. Ms. H talked about how her class was great, learned a lot and for the survivor 5th grade picnic yesterday, it was "Had-a way" all the way! She talked about some of the moments of laughter. Listening to her, I knew that I would miss Mrs. H. and her ways. She was a great teacher for Noah and I can't thank her enough for that. There is such a great contentment that comes from knowing that the person you have abdicated your space to Monday-Friday has done a good job.
The relationship became even more evident between her and Noah when she called Noah's name to come get his certificate. She called him "Po-gly" (I know I have it wrong, Noah will correct me). Now I don't know too much about this name, but the fact that Noah's teacher knows the name that he has on his cell phone as his signature and that to call him by it would elicit a laugh from him and his classmates makes me so happy. Noah's teacher loves him! There is nothing greater than this. After Noah received his certificate he also received a flower which he is supposed to give to his parents (me). Andy was so gracious and captured the moment, and it is my absolute favorite picture of the day!

Then Noah was called up to the stage once more for maintaining a 4.0 GPA for 4th grade and the first two quarters of 5th grade and having an advanced score on the MSA. He received the principal's award! My heart was sooooo full. Noah for all his disorganzation has a knack for school and has, once again, accomplished something I have never. I love that he is having success!!

Then came the slideshow that Andy and I worked on until 4:30. Noah got to introduce the slideshow. I think he was sooooooooo happy that I made this slideshow for this part of the ceremony. I had done this for Tobin's class, but this year I added video to it. I think it really added an element of fun! I sat there, tired and happy and proud as the slideshow played. If you have never heard Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up" and Taylor Hicks' "Do I Make You Proud?" you need to right now go and listen to them. They were such a good set for the slideshow. But we had our upbeat song of "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas as well. It was a blend of tears and laughter. At least that was what I was going for.

To end the promotion ceremony, the entire 5th grade wen on stage and sang, "We Go Together" from Grease. It was the perfect upbeat song to end the graduation on. I loved watching Noah, imagining this was exactly how he sang it during the choir concert a few weeks back! I felt 10 feet tall leaving that auditorium, so proud and happy. I know I say that a lot through this post, but that's how I feel.