Celebrations

Friday was Amelia and John's last day of the school year. The past week was filled with lots of celebrations, from the Totally Texas Tuesday barbecue lunch for the fourth graders, to end of year class parties, Amelia's end of season volleyball party and end of the year TAG dinner, and finally the fourth grade promotion ceremony. I have lots of photos to share as we reflect on the end of another successful school year.

John and his first grade teacher, Miss Mewhirter. Miss Mewhirter is an outstanding teacher! John has grown so much this year and Miss Mewhirter deserves a lot of credit for working well with him and understanding John's personality.

Amelia and her fourth grade teacher, Miss Golman. Miss Golman is fantastic! She places a lot of emphasis on developing the kids' love for reading and writing, and I know that her encouragement of Amelia's writing was instrumental in helping Amelia to nurture her enjoyment of writing for fun.

Amelia and her volleyball coach, Coach Cormier. This was likely the last season that this group of girls will play volleyball together and Coach Cormier has been essential to creating a strong team of girls who are enthusiastic about playing volleyball. We have had four fun seasons of volleyball!

Parents versus girls volleyball game at the end of the year team party. This was so much fun!

Amelia and her beloved TAG teacher, Miss Villanueva. Miss Villanueva has taught Amelia's math and explorations classes for the past three years so she has really gotten to know Amelia's personality and learning style well. Miss Villanueva has a passion for teaching children with tons of creativity and Amelia has blossomed in her classroom.

The fourth grade promotion ceremony took place on Friday. The fourth graders filed into the gym in the style of a graduation ceremony and received certificates recognizing the completion of elementary school. Several of the students read speeches reflecting back on their best memories of University Park, and the principal and other teachers gave speeches celebrating the students' accomplishments. 

A highlight was the sentimental slideshow, which included a baby/toddler photo of each child followed by a photo from the current year. The fourth graders had a lot of fun with the photos, shouting out guesses of who was who when the baby photo went up, with the answer revealed in the next photo when they could recognize the face in the fourth grade picture.

Amelia is receiving her certificate from Dr. Carter below.

After the ceremony the fourth graders participated in the "clap out". The clap out is an annual tradition where the students in kindergarten through third grade line the halls of the elementary school, clapping their hands and cheering as the fourth graders parade through the school for the last time. The fourth graders then exit the front door of the school where the parents stand along the sidewalks continuing the clap out. Amelia is coming down the stairs in the blue dress below.

Amelia on the last day of school in 2013...

...and on her first day of kindergarten.

What a great five years for Amelia at UP!

P.S. I just had to include this first day of kindergarten photo of both kids because it is so adorable. When John saw the photo on my computer just now he shrieked and told me that I had to delete it. After watching the fun Amelia and her classmates had watching the fourth grade slideshow, I have already started brainstorming which embarrassing baby photo of John's to include in his class slideshow!