Until our local board of education decided in its infinite wisdom that closing a full school in a community was okay, I had an elementary school in my backyard. It was a front-row seat to all of the action.
When my own children attended, they would often stop by the fence at recess if they saw me outside to have a little chat, excitedly updating me on some bit of news or gossip. Hanging out at the clothesline, I would laugh when I heard our exuberant youngest making himself known, or saw his bubbly older sister dancing across the playground.
It didn’t take long to become familiar with the routine and the people. I came to know a lot of things. Sports and games changed with the seasons and I soon knew who the natural athletes were among the students. Even after my children no longer attended, I knew when special events were happening since the cars were parked right up to my driveway.
I knew what songs the band was practising, especially when the gym doors were opened during spring concert rehearsals. When the mats and bars came outdoors in May I knew the time for the annual track and field competition was nigh. I knew when it was just too hot inside, as teachers led classes outside on muggy June days to sit on blankets beneath the shade of a tree.
And I certainly didn’t need a calendar to know when Grade 8 graduation was on the horizon. The senior students pulled into animated circles, carrying on conversations about dresses, hairstyles, the mysteries of Grade 9 and whether that cute girl or boy would dance with them.
The air was charged with excitement and it drifted across the fence into my yard. You could feel the energy. The day of the big celebration, there wasn’t a senior student in sight, though, as they got ready for the big night.
After the board closed the facility, I really missed the life that was in that schoolyard. Recently, the building has been re-opened as a small private school, and it’s nice to see some of that back. But I still look fondly to those happy days, especially the exhilarating ones of an ending and the promise of a new beginning, that came when a school year ended.
Graduation will soon be happening at area schools. It’s a fun time of year, and whether I have a front-row seat or not, it’s worth a celebration. So here are some clipart collections for all of the graduates looking to the future:
iCLIPART.com Graduation Illustrations
Clipart.com Graduation Illustrations
Acclaim Images Graduation Clipart
