Graduation Day

Have you ever been to an elementary school, end-of-year, awards ceremony where there is one kid in one class that seems to get all of the awards – highest math achievement, best reader, influential leader, and voted kindest by her classmates? The kid keeps going up to receive her certificates, the audience keeps clapping for her, and the mom keeps screaming “way to go” at every announcement. I’ve been that mom. I’ve had that daughter. I’ve beamed with pride and not even noticed the kids who received no awards.

Today I had the opportunity to be on the other side of this experience. Today I sat quietly as other mom’s cheered for their award winning students. Today I watched my daughter cheer for her friends while there was no award under her chair. From the three classes, 25 students were called up to receive an award for excelling in math and reading. I’m sure they all worked hard to pass up those benchmarks and I added my applause too.

In my heart, I wondered why there were no awards for special education students… My daughter didn’t meet the benchmark but she advanced almost two full reading levels this year. She didn’t meet the benchmark in math either but she earned her “B” grade with a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. She didn’t have perfect attendance but the one day that she missed was because she was truly sick and not because she had a panic attack on the way to school. That is true success!

 

Morgan, you are my hero! Even though there isn't a room full of people cheering for your progress, your family cheers for you each and every day.