Graduation Day

I spent Thursday morning at a graduation and Summer Send-Off at the Lake and Park School in Seattle. Neither of my grands graduated this year but the younger one played 2 piano pieces, sang in the choir and spoke twice. Was it worth it to hear 8 graduation speeches, so that I could hear all that? Of course!

But actually, I enjoyed the graduation speeches very much. These graduates are finishing fifth grade and moving on to middle school. Here are some snippets from the speeches (not exact quotes but close):

“I despised track and cross country when I came here. But my teachers pushed me, and I tried it and began to run a little farther every week. Now I really like it!”

“When I started school, I didn’t like science or nature. But we worked in the garden, planting herbs and potatoes. And then turned those into good food. Also I didn’t like sports, but then I learned to jump rope and now do double dutch almost every day.”

“I hated cleaning. But, not anymore. I learned to clean the classroom together with teachers and other students.”

“I’ve gotten many new skills at Lake and Park - riding a bike, roller-skating - the teachers are always pushing me to try new things.”

“When I started school, I had no interest in music, sports, math or reading. Thanks to all my teachers, that’s not true anymore.”

One grad spent only one year - fifth grade - at Lake and Park. He said, “Before coming here, I didn’t like school. Now I do. I’m doing things I never imagined I would ever do at school! For example, you couldn’t have paid me to make a speech, but here I am! Making a speech!”

Kent and I got to the ceremony in time to snag seats in the first row for supporters, right behind four rows of students. We enjoyed all the jostling and murmuring and comings and goings. During the slide show - Collection of Memories for 2025-2026 - as faces appeared in the slides, students called out names, fist-pumped the air, turned around in their seats and smiled excitedly at each other.

One of the songs in the slide show was Turn! Turn! Turn! by Pete Seeger, made famous by the Byrds. It’s right out of Ecclesiastes 3 and an old favorite that always makes me cry.

I ended the morning full of gratitude for children and the people who teach them. God ordained a loooong path for childhood. Teachers and parents are God's means to do the pushing and the pulling and the caring and the training of all these children God loves.

I’m grateful for my own chance to be a child, not only back then, but now too, as a child of the kingdom. God's still hard at work, teaching and parenting as long as we have breath.