Yes, Tears Were Shed

Colleen graduated from eighth grade this evening. Today was the last day of school for the year for both girls. This evening, we gathered in the lunchroom/auditorium at the Southern Delaware School of the Arts (SDSA) to watch Colleen and her classmates graduate.

Colleen is one of the two dozen or so who have attended SDSA from first through eighth grade. They have been a part of the school for its entire history. Their first grade year was the first year SDSA was open.

I remember visiting the first grade classrooms to show the kids my hand-drum collection. In second grade I read to the class. I remember watching a lesson or two in third grade. For fourth grade, I visited the Smithsonian with Colleen's class. I think it was in fifth grade that I showed them the Delaware DataMIL. About then, I started adding visits to Christina's classrooms, and they all start to melt together in my memory.

Original SDSA principal Tim Fannin returned from Florida for the ceremony this evening. He gets great credit for starting the school, as does Indian River School Superintendent Lois Hobbs, who had the original idea. Both of those educators deserve our thanks.

It was an emotional night for the kids. For Karen and I, it was a very, very proud night. We were pleased to have my folks and Karen's parents sitting with us as we watched Colleen make short speech and walk away from eighth grade.

Next up: Sussex Technical High School. Ironically, one of the strongest academic schools in our area.