Last Day at Chestatee

This was quite the day.  It was the last day at Chestatee Elementary School, and there was quite a bit squeezed into this one day, all starting with the official ceremony in the morning, which you can see above.  Madison is up on stage receiving her award for getting all A's this year, once again making the honor roll.  She's gotten all A's her entire career at Chestatee, which is something we're very proud of.  But it's also a testament to the great teachers at this school.

Here's Madison with her peers during the ceremony.  The t-shirts are color-coded for each classroom, so all of Mr. Reed's kids are wearing that green color.  There were speeches by various teachers, and a guest appearance by the principal of Madison's next school at Little Mill.  And there were more awards handed out too, including this one for Madison from her favorite teacher, Mrs. Hubbard.

The principal is shaking her hand again, something she did a lot this morning.  Lots of hands to shake, because there were all kinds of recognitions and awards.

You can see Madison showing off one of these awards here, just after service.  It's a medal she's earned, having completed her time at Chestatee.  She's very proud of this, in fact wearing it the rest of the day.  Here she is below, going to get that medal as well.

She was called up, along with all the other students, one by one, and each received their medal, along with a few other certificates as well.  It was a nice ceremony, concluded with a slide show of photos taken throughout the year.  A lot of Daddy's photos were included, as he was taking yearbook pictures this past year.

With the ceremony done, it was next time for a picnic lunch.  Madison ate Chick-Fil-A with a few of her friends in class, while Daddy and Mommy snuck home to fill up water balloons.  More on that later!  In the meantime, Mr. Reed was giving out awards in his classroom as well, each one based on a different thing:  Madison got the "Fun and Flexible" award!

We returned to the school just after lunch, because next it was time for the talent show!

Madison did so well, playing "Tightrope" for the entire fifth grade.  They cheered so loud for her when she hit that final note - it was really nice to hear.

Others sang songs, or did gymnastics, or freestyle with a soccer ball.   But two girls played piano, and Madison was the first.  She was nervous, but it came out well, and it was unexpected in some ways.  Mr. Reed didn't know she played the keyboard, and was happy to hear it.

Here's a classmate telling Madison she did a great job.  Which she did.  All the kids did great, of course, but we're Madison's parents, so you'll have to forgive us for immediately thinking she did the best!

Anyway, after this, it was a special time, one last walk through the halls of the school:

Madison and her other classmates walked the halls of Chestatee Elementary School one last time as elementary school students, as fifth graders.  Along the walls were standing and seated the other students, seeing where they themselves would be some day.  All the parents lined the walls too, high-fiving kids, or simply clapping their hands and shouting heaps of praise upon the graduating fifth graders.

Madison was in the middle of the parade, and we high-fived her going by.  She walked by the kindergarten rooms once more, the same rooms she was in five years ago.  She registered for kindergarten - and visited this building for the first time on March 29, 2012.  And as she walked these halls today, it was her last time as a student.

It's a very sentimental time.  There were tears, and not just with the kids.  It was boys and girls, welling up with emotion at this emotional goodbye.  But get this:  along with the fifth graders, there were high schoolers that were marching these halls as well.  The graduating class of 2018 - those who went to Chestatee Elementary - had returned home, making a special trip to walk these halls as well.

It was very special, no doubt.  And some day, Madison will be walking these halls once again.  But for now, it was time to pull out the special bell.

Once a year, they bring out the bell, and ring it to signify the end of the school year.  The kids are going off to summer break, and it was time to say our final goodbyes to the school.  Mommy and Daddy dashed off, because it was time for an ambush at the bus stop!

This yearly tradition will keep going on with middle school:  the parents all got together with a lot of water balloons, throwing them at the kids as they got off the bus, and as you can see above, nailing the bus a lot too!  The bus driver had a great sense of humor!

Madison ran for her life, as did all the other kids, each hoping to not get soaked right away.  Water balloons splatted left and right, and she made it to the source of the balloons, and joined in on the fun.

Daddy and Mommy spent a good amount of time filling water balloons, and now they were flying out left and right, soaking the kids off the bus, and quite a few of them actually on the bus too.

Madison thinks this is so much fun - and it is!  It was so much fun that we did it again in a couple hours:  the middle schoolers were getting off their bus, so we filled a lot of water balloons and did it all over again!  We ambushed the kids getting off of their bus, and had yet another water balloon fight.  It was so much fun!

Tonight, we were pretty worn out, as you'd expect.  We got "Paddington Bear 2" from the library earlier, so we watched that movie together with some popcorn.  It was really good.  We really like these two movies quite a bit.

And then, bedtime.  Reading, and prayers - and then sleep.  It was a very full day, and a memorable one.  It was a bittersweet day - we're sad to see Chestatee Elementary go, but we're excited about summer and the future ahead of us.  It's been a great time, and we've loved our time at Chestatee Elementary School.