Pineridge Blog

I went to a kindergarten graduation Wednesday morning. 

I have to admit I have always wondered if it is really necessary to have a formal recognition for the completion of kindergarten.  I mean having a graduation ceremony for kindergarteners seems like pausing in a 100-meter dash to celebrate the winner of the first 10 meters.  I am all for coming up with any excuse to eat cookies, but really?  Kindergarten graduation seems to be an oxymoron like “Jumbo shrimp,” or “Good Baptist.”  (Just kidding, Baptists…)

While I think it is certainly good to celebrate any kid’s accomplishments, this brief ceremony today really moved me as a very auspicious occasion.  The school is in one of the poorest areas of Kansas City located in a neighborhood with a very high drop out rate.  The student body is made up of kids most of whom do not speak English at home and a quarter of whom are children of relocated refugees.   

The kindergarten class I have worked with as a volunteer is the “New Comers Class,” that is made up of the kids in refugee families who have just been relocated to KC.  They are for the most part families who have left terrible situations, endured years in camps and the rigorous two-year US vetting process, and finally arrived with nothing except a dream of giving their children a better life in a new home.

To be with lots of parents and siblings and see these kids from Syria, Somalia, Myanmar and God knows where else singing crazy songs together, jumping up when they heard their names called, and proudly receiving a certificate for completing kindergarten, was awe inspiring.  I don’t know what it is like to attend a ceremony for the Nobel Prize winners, but I bet it isn’t any more meaningful.  And I’m sure the cookies are not as good!

Peace+,
Jim