{"id":701,"date":"2018-06-22T01:17:11","date_gmt":"2018-06-22T01:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/labschool\/?p=701"},"modified":"2018-06-25T17:59:26","modified_gmt":"2018-06-25T17:59:26","slug":"on-leaving-sixth-grade-graduation-at-sccs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/labschool\/2018\/06\/22\/on-leaving-sixth-grade-graduation-at-sccs\/","title":{"rendered":"On Leaving: Sixth Grade Graduation at SCCS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cA big family\u201d and \u201ca mug of hot chocolate\u201d were two comparisons that sixth graders made when describing the Campus School in their graduation speeches this year. Situated in Helen Hills Hills Chapel on the final evening of May, graduates marked their transition from the school by reading reflective speeches. They then received, as generations of SCCS graduates will remember, a letter of gratitude read aloud by their teacher\u2014a testament to each student\u2019s special strengths and contributions to the community that is written by their 6th<\/sup> grade teacher with input from teachers across the grades.<\/p>\n

Every year, Campus School graduation begins with parents, teachers, and friends taking their seats while graduates bustle in the basement below. Fidgeting with dresses and ties, sixth graders\u2019 excitement is palpable, almost reminiscent of recess. Hush, however, calms the building as students climb the stairs and adopt a degree of solemnity\u2014beginning their procession holding a single flower, which they carry through a tunnel of faculty and staff members standing on both sides of the aisle to symbolize, as noted in the evening\u2019s program, \u201cthat our students graduate not just from the sixth grade but from the entire Campus School.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before taking their seats on the stage, every student places their flower into a communal vase\u2014 another iconographic tradition whose diversity and color \u201crepresents the unique qualities and potential that each student brought with them upon entering the Campus School.\u201d Music teacher Cindy Naughton plays the final notes of Pachelbel\u2019s \u201cCanon in D\u201d on the piano, and the crowd settles in.<\/p>\n

\u201cTonight is the culmination of [students\u2019] Campus School journey, and our sixth graders are making two important transitions,\u201d Head of School Chris Marblo said in this year\u2019s opening remarks. \u201cThe first, of course, is that they\u2019re graduating from the Campus School\u2026 The second is that they are transitioning from childhood to adolescence.\u201d There is no other period in life, Chris noted, when a person will grow as much as they do from kindergarten to sixth grade. Asking teachers to stand for a round of applause, followed by a standing ovation for parents, the collective nature of that growth was acknowledged and celebrated before the crowd turned its attention to students.<\/p>\n

Woven throughout the evening was the theme of reciprocity. Teachers\u2019 letters made vivid the depth and nuance of each student-teacher bond, and the degree to which students, themselves, teach others in their community. \u201cHave you ever met one of those souls whose depth and uncanny ability to know the right thing to say or do makes you certain that they have lived many lives before this one?,\u201d sixth-grade teacher Andrea Hermans asked, turning towards the audience. \u201cArlo,\u201d she said to her student, \u201cyou are one of those people to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Infused with inside jokes, predictions for their futures, and poignant anecdotes about challenges overcome, teachers portrayed each graduate, not only as a student, but as a person\u2014and a person of promise. Sixth-grade teacher Joe Golossi added humor to the evening, writing to one of his students\u2014not a letter from him\u2014but a letter from his classroom. \u201cDear Peanut Butter Vivvy Time,\u201d the letter began, inciting an eruption of laughter from knowing sixth graders:<\/p>\n

\u00ad\u00adI can\u2019t believe this is your last day at Camp SCCS! No more snack? No more recess? No more half-days every week? How will you do it?! Please know that I, Room 209, will miss you terribly. The lights will miss shining on you as you tell your recently-memorized jokes or share the daily menu of food puns at your make-believe restaurant\u2026 The wall in the corner by the cabinet is going to miss when you sat in it, taking your writing to task\u2026 There is no doubt that you have become a prominent fixture in your class, and I am sure that you will become one in your future classrooms, too.<\/p>\n

Sincerely yours,
\nRoom 209<\/p>\n

P.S. Please come back and visit.
\nP.P.S. The inside of your desk wants me to thank you for letting it finally see light again.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Every year, students select a song to sing to their audience. This year\u2019s rendition of Kelly Clarkson\u2019s early hit \u201cBreakaway\u201d offered resonance:<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll spread my wings and I\u2019ll learn how to fly
\nI\u2019ll do what it takes \u2018til I touch the sky.
\nI\u2019ve got to take a risk
\ntake a chance;
\nmake a change;
\nand breakaway.<\/em><\/p>\n

Breakaway was addressed by one boy in a suit jacket, pressed chinos, and a single untied shoelace\u2014the mark of childhood hanging on. \u201cThese last few months,\u201d he said at the start of his speech, \u201cI\u2019ve been doing a lot of \u2018last\u2019 things.\u201d \u201cEven years from now,\u201d another student said, \u201cwhen I look back on my time at SCCS, my heart will fill with that same feeling that I got on my first day of school.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the end of the evening, students lit individual candlesticks from a single flame\u2014carrying light from their class out into the world. Recessing through the Chapel, some had quiet tears on their cheeks, others big grins. Parents and teachers stood with pride, watching each student stream down the aisle and out into the dusk. One could not help but think, in this small New England Chapel, that this evening was not really a \u201c\u2018last\u2019 thing,\u201d but the exciting start of many firsts.<\/p>\n

Congratulations, Campus School Class of 2018. You have made us proud.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Written by Brittany Collins<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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