Movin' on to Middle School

Patrick celebrated a milestone this week....graduation from 5th grade and promotion to middle school!! WHOO HOO!

MSD hosted a wonderful ceremony for both the 5th and 8th graders. The whole Zoo Crew + a few (Miss Ashley & Allison) traipsed to Columbia for the event. We took up an entire row in the auditorium, hee hee hee!

Our first surprise was finding that all the students were wearing caps & gowns. NICE! Patrick looked quite fetching (and entirely too grown up!) in his festive attire. All the graduates were ready for their close-ups and posed for us Mama-razzis (and a few Papa-razzis!).

A couple of observations on how wonderful this school is...

• small classes mean LOTS of personal attention
• the teachers in attendance all knew Patrick and had something kind to say about him
• close to the start time, the principals took the time to make sure every student's family had arrived; we started about 15 minutes late, knowing one family was on their way--(and for once, it wasn't US!)
• the kids were all kind and respectful to one and other...and were amazingly accepting of Patrick and his quirks...one super cute young lady was even teasing him about how excited he was to have us all there!

What a lovely treat to see Patrick hanging out with his friends, chatting and exchanging stories. Everyone wanted to know all about our family and which kid was which. Since Allison's coloring is a little more like ours, some of his friends were confused that she's not one of us, hee hee hee. (And one of Patrick's buddies thinks Katie is pretty cute!)

The ceremony began with the traditional procession and Pomp & Circumstance. The graduates lined up in a semi-circle, setting the stage for personal introductions; each student stepped center stage, signed his/her name and where he/she is headed next year. Patrick ROCKED...he didn't seem at all nervous or shy--and every sign was clear and concise!

After the speeches were over, diplomas were handed out and...then came the slideshow. THEN, just when I thought I was done getting teary-eyed, the students each presented their moms with a rose. One at at time, each child went to the stage, picked a flower from the basket and then went into the audience for some Mama lovin'. Despite having received a small warning in advance, this mom lost it. (I'm even getting misty thinking about it now!) After the rose presentations, the kids disappeared into the wings.

What could possibly come next? DANCING of course!! All the kids mingled on the stage, dancing and hamming it up to "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out how this was gonna work for Patrick...until he rolled onto stage on a wheeled desk chair. His grin said it ALL! Two other boys rolled in on chairs and really got into chair dancing with him. Later in the song, he played air guitar from the safety and comfort of his own walker. Miss Ashley captured it all on video...so I hope to post that soon!

All in all, a wonderful evening, celebrating this amazing boy child (and all his friends, too!!). (Not so much a boy or a child anymore, though. *sigh*) He has come so very far.
Thank you, Maryland School for the Deaf!! We can't wait to see what middle school holds for him!!

In the meantime, feel free to check out more pictures from this festive event: MSD Promotion