Kindergarten Graduation & A Very Special Guest!!

Last Thursday we had our kindergarten graduation...yes, I know, I'm just now getting around to posting about it! :) Oh well, on the bright side, at least I am posting about it because it was quite the special day! Our kinders looked so adorable in their little caps even if the wind did keep blowing them off of their little heads! I was so proud of them and I still have mixed emotions about sending these kiddos off to first grade! They were my first class that I grew with as a teacher and a person and that I grew to love as if they were my own! (Not that I want 25 of my own little kids, but I sure did get my "kid fix" in this year! Hehe!) It didn't help that most of the kids didn't want to leave me either. Every day when we did our countdown to summer, I had kids that would "whine" or be upset because they didn't want to leave me. They asked if I could be their mom and so on. I actually had a little girl break down crying the morning of graduation day because she didn't want to leave kindergarten. Oh my word, it broke my heart. She was so serious too! :(  I guess a plus side to all of this is that I can leave my first year of teaching knowing that I made a great impact on my students and I did the best I could! That in itself is very rewarding.

Okay....rant ended, now onto graduation (what this post is all about!). It was a gorgeous day for an outdoor graduation...well, minus the wind! :) We had a picnic lunch in our courtyard outside and then we began our ceremony.

 Here is the graduation program I put together. We had each kiddo write what they wanted to be when they grow up on a white board and then took their picture. This was another big hit for the parents and I would have to agree, it turned out adorable don't you think?!

Our principal talked briefly to our kinders and then they sang a couple songs for their families. We found an adorable kindergarten graduation song on YouTube that is sung to the tune of Love & Marriage. It is too cute and the parents loved it!! I didn't get a video of it during the graduation, but our classes sang it the next day at our talent show and I got it recorded then. The music is a little loud, but you can kind of hear them! Check it out below!

   

Next, we handed out the certificates. Then we read our letter to the parents that was also included in the program. It was pretty difficult to keep it together, but teary-eyed me made it through! :) YAY!  My teaching partner found a freebie letter on TpT and then changed it a little to make it suitable for us. I thought it turned out great!

Now for the very special guest that we had NO IDEA about!! A little backstory...my teaching partner is a huge K-State fan and she does the KSU cheer with her kiddos before games. Well, one of her parents came up and asked her to lead the kids in the KSU cheer. As she was doing it, WILLIE the WILDCAT comes out and surprises her!! It was priceless and the kids were ecstatic! He proceeded to lead the kids in the "official" (because it's not official without Willie, right?!) K-S-U cheer. Then he took pictures with the kids and our classes, signed autographs on balls, hands, pictures, etc., and played with the kids on the playground! I bet he went home a little tired that day! :)

I might also add that I am a Kansas Jayhawk fan and Mrs. B made sure to point that out to Willie, so he came over and gave me a hug! Haha! I actually graduated from K-State, so even this Jayhawk fan thought it was pretty cool that Willie came to our graduation! What a memory for our kiddos! It was a special day for sure!

I must also share some of my special teacher gifts that I received at the end of school! I love the saying on the middle/bottom one. I think we often do forget how good of a job we really are doing, so it will be a great reminder next year! Such crafty parents/kids huh?! I love them all!

 Well, one year of teaching is in the books, so now it's time to enjoy summer. This oh, so bare classroom and I will meet again in August...or July! ;)

One more quick thing, I can't help but remember and think about ALL of the victims of the tornadoes that have been happening lately. One just hit down tonight near where I grew up and have family around. Thankfully everyone is okay, but I know it's not easy to go through something like that. My husband was in a tornado in 2008 where much of the town was ruined. Please continue to pray for safety and the rebuilding of Moore and everyone else affected by tornadoes. Here's one way I helped out! TpT is also selling bundles of teaching resources, so check them both out!

Have a great summer and stay safe!