Odd 8th Grade Graduation . . .

Backyard Sunset - Denham Springs

Flew up North for our Kiddo's 8th Grade Graduation, his Mom's 45th Birthday and Father's Day plus getting to see brothers and sisters for both P&D's Pop and myself. It was a very short 6 day trip but extremely gratifying. Kiddo's family is so easy to be with. We enjoyed every moment. Yes, I certainly do miss our daughter and her family but Kiddo is growing up now and has a life all his own.  When we left in was in the pool with a couple of friends who stopped by on their bikes. It's so much fun seeing him growing up and having fun.

Now the "Graduation" was not a graduation it was an 8th Grade Promotion from Clark Lane Middle School in Waterford, CT which took place at the Waterford High School Auditorium. About 213 students were called up alphabetically and each received a certificate that indicated they had been promoted. That was pretty much it - a few very short speeches, a few songs and that was that.  It took an hour. On June 14, the week before we arrived for the Promotion Ceremony, our Kiddo and his parents were invited to the Honors Breakfast in the Clark Lane cafeteria where awards were given out and that was that.  Everything was extremely low key.  The best part of it all was each kiddo received a Blue T-shirt announcing them as the class of 2022. I'm guessing that the powers that be have decided that eighth grade doesn't mean much of anything any more and that the kiddos must at least graduate from High School before they have received anything of value from their education. There are still schools in Connecticut following the traditional graduation exercises with caps, gowns, gold cords and lots of awards but not Waterford. In a way I think Waterford is on the right track because I certainly can't see any of these kids calling it quits after 8th Grade as I don't believe they've learned enough to make it any where in life like our parents did. I'm almost 76 years old and only one of my parents graduated from High School and went on to Assumption College. My mother was mostly self taught although she did attend Plainfield High. Both of my parents were highly educated avid readers, writers and story tellers. I know our mother would outshine today's college grads in many ways. But that dissertation is for another day!