Sixth-Grade Finale

Wet world out there today, and still cold for May. Cold rain by night, rain in the morning, drizzle since then, or at least clouds. May showers bring what? Junebugs?

We got a letter from Lilly's school the other day. It said, in part, "Before they go on to bigger and better things, the class of 2010 will 'celebrate' [sic on those quotes] their memories, experiences and accomplishments at Quincy Adams Wagstaff Elementary School. Events include:

"6th Grade Commencement Breakfast: Wednesday, June 2, 2010.... the students will dress-up [sic] for the occasion and are honored by their teachers and parents in the school gym...

"6th Grade Day of Fun: Thursday, June 3, 2010. The entire 6th grade will depart from Quincy Adams Wagstaff at 9 a.m. for the Schaumburg Sports Center. There they will enjoy many different group activities. Afterward they will travel to Streamwood Lanes for a pizza lunch and bowling."

This is enough to inspire my inner curmudgeon, who really isn't buried very deeply, to come out and make a statement. The kind of statement that begins with, "In my day..."

In this case, though, I'm thinking of a specific day, one in May 1973, when I finished sixth grade. I don't remember what we did. I'm fairly sure it didn't involve schoolwork. But it also didn't involve a breakfast or an outing for pizza and bowling or any notion of "commencement." We did what we did and when the day was over, that was that.

Why is it different 37 years later? I suspect it's because the self-esteem movement got its mitts on elementary education between then and now. There are probably entire tomes about "milestoning" children to promote that elixir of personhood, self-esteem. At least the school doesn't seem to want to dress them up in caps and gowns.