Displaced Beachbums

As FG was running out the door to catch the school bus this morning, she threw a sheet of paper at me. It said there would be an award ceremony at 2:00 pm today and parents were invited to attend. Although I didn’t know the details, I’d gotten used to going to elementary school award ceremonies where every child gets some type of award ~ no matter what. So I rearranged my plans but, unfortunately, FM wasn’t able to get out of work. 

Much to my surprise (and delight), FG has graduated into awards based on merit. As I was sitting through the music, art and Presidential Fitness awards, and FG’s name wasn’t called, I began to worry that perhaps FG wouldn’t get any awards and would feel bad that I made the trip there. Not that I was overly surprised that she didn’t excel in art or music ~ neither FM nor I have much of an aptitude for either.

But once they announced they were giving awards to the Honor Students, I knew she’d get one. Whew.

Then they announced the “Citizenship Award” ~ the principal said they asked each teacher to pick one student from their class who they thought was an exemplary example to other students and were most likely to be future leaders. I was thrilled when they called FG’s name and so was she. She told me later she was really hoping they’d call her name.

It’s a whole new ballgame now that the awards have to be earned. And, as much as I believe that awards should be earned, I did feel badly for those who didn’t get anything. I hope it motivates them to pursue one next year.