5th-Grade Graduation

It is an odd thing, this 5th-grade graduation, a ceremony to celebrate the passage of a child from the elementary school into middle school. In my own personal history, fifth grade was just the year before sixth grade, which was still considered a part of the elementary school. Here, it is the end of elementary, and the beginning of that curious limbo-land of middle school, where the student is not quite grown up yet, but definitely too old for elementary behavior.

I'm not much on celebratory events (as most of you know). Too many times, an event which is significant only to a particular person or family gets blown all out of proportion, as though it were of great significance to the entire world. Certainly there is some merit in impressing upon a young person the magnitude of an achievement for which he/she has struggled mightily. Then again, there are some things which are achieved merely through the passage of time, requiring nothing more than mere survival (and avoidance of dangerous behavior patterns).

Which category does this falls under? I'm not sure. Perhaps my uncertainty has to do with the level of difficulty. How hard can it be to make it through fifth grade? Not as hard as getting through high school. Which is one of the reasons we make such a big deal out of a child's graduation from secondary school rather than elementary. (The other reason may have to do with the fact that, for many children, secondary school is as far as they will ever go.)

All that said, we're still proud of James. Not for the fact that he 'graduated' fifth grade, because that an expected event. And not for the fact that his teachers recognized his creative abilities (they tagged him with the 'future author' superlative, although he'd probably rather be known as a 'future artist'). We know he is talented. We also know that the teachers are required to give some kind of recognition to each child for the purpose of self-esteem, so that no one is "Left Behind" (although saying that someone has the 'prettiest eyes' is really pushing it!). Unfortunately, it still holds true that when everyone is special, no one is special.

Mainly we're proud of James because of the characteristics that we see every day: his gentleness, his compassion for others, his easy-going nature, his loyalty, his playfulness, his laugh, his talent for drawing, his willingness to eat whatever is in front of him, his silly voices, and his love for his family.

And he's just happy to have the summer off!