Olivia Graduates from Grade School

In the blink of an eye, Olivia graduated from grade school.  She will be moving on to a gifted middle school program in the fall which will bring many new and exciting opportunities for her.  The final two weeks at her grade school were a blur of activities - field trips, sports day, a research presentation, and the 5th grade family picnic.

The 5th grade classes always have a fantastic field trip to the St. Louis City Museum to celebrate their graduation.  The school's PTO pays for a charter bus for them to ride in luxury, and the kids have so much fun running around the museum.  Here is a group photo of the entire 5th grade class.

Olivia climbing around the City Museum.

 

The traditional 5th grade picnic started with the class Civil War presentation.  Each student picked a topic on the Civil War (Olivia picked the women of the civil war, focusing on Clara Barton), researched it, wrote a speech, and made a mini presentation box of highlights and props.  Olivia did a great job!

After the Civil War presentation, the class and families were treated to a pizza and potluck lunch.  It was enjoyed outside on the playground.  The students then arranged a spontaneous circle dance party that was a real highlight for me to watch - all of the kids did a great job of including everyone, crazy dancing, cheering each other on, and having a great final moment with each other before middle school.  After the lunch, the families and students went into the library to watch a 30 minutes slide show of 5th grade memories.  The teachers did a great job of taking photos throughout the entire year, and then presented it in a fun show with music.  After the initial excited yelling with the first round of pictures, the students settled in to watching while singing along to the songs and dancing.

After the slideshow, it was time for fun on the playground!  They started with two games of capture the flag, with each class competing against the other.  Each won one time.

Next was a crazy relay race that included getting dressed in silly shirts and hats.

The annual water balloon fight was a lot of fun!

And the day was finished with popsicles.  Here is Olivia with her friend Demeria.

The final day of grade school!  I can clearly remember attending Kindergarten Preview Night with Olivia and being so uncertain about the changes in store for her, and now she is done with her school forever!  Olivia had some fun with her clothes on the last day, wearing her class shirt and her Freddy Frog socks (the school mascot).  Congratulations on your graduation, Olivia!  We are so proud of you and all of your accomplishments!