Class of 2013: Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Celebrating the...

Class of 2013:

Oh! the Places You'll Go! (banner hung in my classroom)

Last week, we celebrated the Class of 2013, meaning that all my 5 year olds that are currently in preschool graduated and are moving on into Kindergarten in August!!! Woooohoooo! Congrats boys and girls!!!

However, no...that is not the end of this blog post.  Oh no, fooled you!  We have lots to talk about, lots of pictures to show, but most importantly, a party to remember for the rest of your life!

Now, let me tell you....Preschool graduation is an exciting time for not only the students, but the parents, and myself as well!  Yep, you said it.  I went a little overboard with preschool graduation but I am PERFECTLY okay with it :) It was totally worth it and the students LOVED it :)!

Let's get started!

As I was thinking about graduation, I really wanted to center it around a certain theme.  I thought to myself...."Hmm, what will be an interesting theme to all of my students???" And then, it came to me!  DR. SUESS!  Now you may say, what does Dr. Seuss have to do with preschool graduation?!! Well, if you never graduated before, then I'm not expecting you to know :) But...Dr. Seuss has written an amazing book called, "Oh, The Places You'll Go!"  This book is about a young boy who doesn't know which path he'll choose, but it's up to him to choose his next step!  It inspired creative thinking and offers so many different dreams!  I decided at that point...this is what I will do!  :) So, the planning began.

Now, I had to plan for our preschool graduation ceremony as well as a meal afterwards.  Not to mention, the bulletin boards I wanted to display and the preschool graduation gifts I wanted to give each of the students.  Well, now I will begin showing pictures!  Enjoy! :)

In the morning, the students were SO EXCITED!  Miss Brittane had out done herself with graduation decorations and oh boy, the students just couldn't concentrate.  However, we started off our preschool graduation day with a book called, "Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready For Kindergarten!"  Although the students got distracted very easily, we were able to make it through. 

Reading "Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready For Kindergarten!"

After reading the book, it was time to get lined up for graduation!!! All of the parents were waiting in the gym (where graduation took place) and we were running late...imagine that ;)!  However, we  got to the gym and had a wonderful graduation program.  My boss, Sara said a few words, and then it was my turn.  I had trouble not tearing up...as I only had these students for 5 months and now they were leaving me. :(  But I made it through.  I handed out awards to the students, recognizing the students for many different things such as Happy Attitude, Award Winning Smile, Hard Worker, Most Responsible, Excellent Artists, and many more!  The students and parents LOVED the awards!!! After presenting awards, the students sang one song about going to Kindergarten and then also danced to their favorite song, "Gangham Style!"  They love it!  After singing and dancing, it was time to award the diplomas!  Along with the diplomas, the students received a pencil from the school and a carnation flower to give their mom.  Attached to the carnation was a cute "Proud of Me Degree" poem.  The students loved the graduation program, but were very excited to get back to the room for the meal and cake of course!!!

Preschool Awards! :)

Preschool diplomas! :) (HOMEMADE!!!)

Students singing their song!! :)

Flower with poem attached! :)

Receiving their diplomas! :)

After finishing the graduation program, everyone...including students, parents, relatives, etc. were invited back to the Bear Room for a short lunch, to enjoy one another's company.  There was A TON of people, but overall it went very well!  We enjoyed a short lunch, having ham and turkey sandwiches, chips, fruit, cake, and lemonade!  All of this food was brought by parent volunteers and the cake was made by my amazing, talented sister Brooke!  It looked fabulous...pictured below!

Themed cake made by my wonderful sister!!! 

Food table! :)

After lunch, preschool graduation was officially over, but not for me!  I had gifts to give and smiles to see!  I made each preschooler a little goodie bag filled with markers, crayons, pixie sticks, smarties, and a sucker.  Yep, they were full of sugar!  Along with this goodie bag, I tied their graduation picture to it with a short personal note from me on the back...so they always remember me of course! :)  Along with the preschool student gifts, I also made a little gift for each one of my parent volunteers who brought in food for the graduation lunch.  See the pictures below! :)

Hand sanitizer: "Thank you for your helping hands! :)"

Preschool Graduation Goodie Bags!!!

Overall, preschool graduation was a blast!!! Everything turned out wonderful and I could not have done it with everyone who helped me.  I want to say a quick thank you to: the parents who brought in food for graduation lunch, Flowerama for the generous donation so their child could give each Mom a flower, and my amazing sister, Brooke who helped design the diplomas and baked/designed the amazing themed cake as well as the staff at CUCCC for their support and encouragement.  Without these volunteers, I could not have put on such an amazing preschool graduation for my students!

This day was truly remarkable and one I will always remember.  The way my student's eyes lit up when they saw everything was just tear-jerking.  It was such a special day for them and I'm so happy I worked so hard to make this day so special for them.  From homemade banners to frustrated picture edits, I made it through the week and received so many appreciative comments from the parents in my classroom.  As a first year teacher, you often second guess and doubt everything you are doing, so knowing I put on a wonderful preschool graduation celebration met a lot to me as well as the thirty students in my classroom!

Well, I guess there is only one thing left to say....

Up, Up, & Away...Today is YOUR day!  

CONGRATS CLASS OF 2013!!! :)

Thank you all for listening, and until next time, stay safe <3.