Marcus Finishes K1

I can't believe it was ten months ago that Marcus started kindergarten--yesterday he had his "closing ceremonies" in his classroom for parents and families (on a rare no-uniform day for his class, as a special treat), and today we said goodbye to his teachers (and, in this case, the school, since he'll be doing K2 at a different Boston Public School next year).

His teacher, Ms. Buckley (Ms. B.), put on a slideshow of pictures from the year set to the White Stripes' song "I Can Tell that We are Gonna be Friends," and then after the slideshow she asked the K1-ers to come sit in their spots on the class rug so she could give out awards. Samantha trotted right up and found a spot between Ela and Masai, apparently where an absent "friend" was supposed to be sitting, and she sat there through the award ceremony and applauded politely at the appropriate moments. (I don't think she knew that she wasn't actually a part of the class.)

Then Ms. B asked the kids to stand up in rows and sing three songs they'd practiced, and Ms. Silva (the paraprofessional, full-time in the classroom) led them in the songs with motions and hints. Samantha again decided that the performance must be for her, and she stood front and center and watched approvingly.

 

"[Today we want to recognize] all our friends for some amazing things. All right. Congratulations to our friend Alicia for always getting to school on time, every single day; such an important [...]. Congratulations! Congratulations to our friend Eric for always being such a good listener and being such an example for all of us. Congratulations to our friend Jordan for always being a caring friend. Any time someone falls on the playground, Jordan is the first one to head over there. Congratulations to Jaslene, who worked so so hard at the writing center. It's really, really impressive, all the hard work that you've done. Congratulations to our friend Jailene, for always [...]. Congratulations to our friend John for always being a good listener on the rug, which he's doing right now. Congratulations to our friend Julianna for always using her imagination and always having some very interesting stories to share with me. Congratulations--where's Kyrion? [Kyrion's not here!] Well, congratulations to our friend Kyrion for always working well with others. Congratulations to [...] for always working hard at the art center--she takes so much pride in her art projects. Congratulations to our friend Liandro for always working hard on every single thing that he does. Congratulations to our friend Masai for always being polite with his friends. Congratulations to our friend Mario for always being so patient with his friends, with Ms. B., and Ms. Silva. Congratulations to our friend Marcus for always building very interesting structures--always creating something very [...] and always teaching us a lot about them. Congratulations to our friend Nicholas for being an impressive mathematician--we count how many days we've been in school with these, and sometimes I lose track of the days, but Nicholas always reminds me."

 

"I'm a Little Teapot"; "Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands"; "Bingo"

Overall, Marcus had such a wonderful year of school, his first "real" year of school. His favorite number is 9 (that's why he drew a big puffy "9" on the front of his writing portfolio), his favorite place to play in his classroom is the block area, his favorite color is blue, and his favorite letter is M. His best friends from the bus were Kanye and Mezzorah and "Big" Alex. His best friends from his class were Liandro, John, Kyrion, and Nicholas. Marcus spent the year desperately wanting a "mohog" haircut like his classmate Mario, getting complimented on his spiky backpack by teachers and staff ("It's a pokypine!" he would yell), hugging Maria the sweet lunch lady every day, and talking endlessly about Ms. B's dog. We have had an amazing experience at Orchard Gardens--every member of the staff we came in contact with was professional, warm, and supportive. We will miss the school very much!

The following pictures came from Marcus's teacher, taken in the classroom over the year. The non-uniform shot is from their exciting "pajama day" the day before Christmas vacation, and the other shots all involve one or another of Marcus's (apparently famous) structures.

 

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Created: 6/21/13. Last Modified: 6/21/13.