The Lee Family: Sofia Graduates 5th Grade!

Today was Sofia's graduation from 5th grade and elementary school! She has had some very mixed emotions about this day and actually cried last night when I tucked her in bed knowing that 5th grade is over. She has had such a great year and really wishes it could continue, as much as she's looking forward to summer. Not only has she loved this year at Glenhope/Aspire Academy but she's also very hesitant to start middle school since there is no recess. She said they work so hard in class all day that they really need recess to play and not focus on work. I know it will be a big change, but I also know that she'll be great!

Stacy offered to take Olivia to school since they would be having a "summer reading party" in their classroom with books, a beach towel and pool floaty that each kiddo brought to school. She was super excited for the reading party at school and I was really thankful for Stacy to take Olivia and her huge donut pool floaty to school.

For her graduation day, Sofia planned to wear the dress she wore to Giselle and Andrew's wedding over the weekend and wanted me to do her hair exactly the same! I kept trying to convince her that she would be over-dressed and to wear something a little more casual and comfortable, but she wasn't going to budge. So, she came downstairs in her beautiful dress and I did her hair before she had breakfast and we left, late, to school. Since the graduation ceremony started at 8am, I parked on the street and we walked into school together. I gave Sofia a hug as she headed to her classroom for the last time and I went into the cafeteria to get a good seat. I actually ended up getting a decent seat in the 3rd row.

A few days before, the girls made their thank you gifts for their teachers. We decided to get each of the teachers gift certificates for McAlisters, T.J. Maxx, Michael's, and Starbucks and put them in a gift with "What will Ms. Hayes/Ms. Feaster do this summer?" on the front of the booklet. Sofia has done this a few times for her teachers, but this was Olivia's first time making a thank you booklet. The girls loved writing it all out and drawing pictures for their teachers. On the last page, the girls were able to write a private message to their teacher. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Olivia's cute booklet, but loved that she wrote "Ms. Feaster, Of all the teachers, I would pick you! You are the best! Love, Olivia" She loves Ms. Feaster! Sofia took her time drawing on each page and it turned out really cute. She was really excited to give it to Ms. Hayes!

The ceremony started and each of the classes entered and took a seat in front of the audience, facing the stage. Dr. Griffin, the Glenhope principal, welcomed all of us and spoke about the year. Next was Mr. Fingers, the Cross Timbers Middle School principal, who gave a great speech about how the kids are crawling out of the swamp (since they are Gators) and will be moving to land and joining the wolf pack (as Cross Timber Wolves). He then had all the kids practice their howl, which was really cute. All of the kids at Glenhope will be going to Cross Timbers, so it was great to have Mr. Fingers welcome the kids! The 5th grade student body president offered a few remarks, and then it was time for Dr. Griffin to present the kids' certificates of graduation! Ms. Hayes' class went second after Mr. Boykin's class.

When it was Ms. Hayes' class turn, Sofia and her classmates lined up to be announced by Dr. Griffin, receive their diplomas and each student's greatest accomplishment as well as the award they are most proud of for the year. Sofia's greatest accomplishment was "I am most proud that I made a bunch of friends." and the award she was most proud of was the "Gator Great Achiever in Kindness" award. I love how connected she feels to her friends in school. She shook Dr. Griffin's hand, accepted her diploma and walked over to give Ms. Hayes and each of the 5th grade teachers a hug. Poor Ms. Hayes was a mess throughout the entire ceremony. She's really going to miss her kids and I know they will miss her too!

After each of the students were given their diplomas, we got to watch the 5th grade slide show, which was really well-made and fun. Since this is Sofia's first year at Glenhope, there weren't a lot of photos of her, but there were a couple. The slide show ended with a baby picture and a current photo of each of the kids. It was pretty interesting how some of the kids looked exactly the same as when they were little! Then, Abby Brown presented the class gift, which is a learning screen that will be installed in the garden.

Finally, the closing remarks were made by Coach Maupin, the PE teacher who Sofia absolutely adores. I've never really interacted with Coach Maupin much before, so I was interested to hear his closing remarks. Apparently, he started as the PE coach when the graduating class were Kindergardeners, so he was pretty emotional about watching them graduate. He gave an awesome speech, which was very funny and entertaining, as well. He talked about several life lessons that the kids need to remember as they leave these halls. The main one that resonated with me, was to enjoy the moment. Life will become more complicated as each of the kids gets older, and there will be new and different challenges, so it's most important to enjoy the moment we are in. He gave a great speech!

It was then time for the parents to leave and head out into the hallways so the 5th graders could come through the halls for high-fives! I went to the Aspire hallway and it was great to see the 5th grade graduates walk through! They did it!

After, we took a few photos and then I gave Sofia a hug as I left to meet Casey for a quick pedicure! Then I picked up Olivia, who convinced Casey to have her over to a playdate. I went to Glenhope to pick up Sofia. The 5th graders enjoyed some splash time in the back of the school after graduation, so she was wet when I picked her up, but had had a great time! Of course, she was with her buddy, Liam and his family when I picked her up. We said goodbye to Liam and Sofia and I headed to Trio for lunch together. It was a great ending to a great day! Super excited to see how 6th grade goes for Sofia and 2nd grade for Olivia!

Olivia is ready for her last day of school!