Friday, April 26, 2024
Brawner Elementary held its second annual kindergarten graduation on Friday, May 19.
A total of 150 Brawner Elementary students graduated from kindergarten on Friday, May 19, with each student receiving a hug from Assistant Principal Sandy Ruiz, right, and Principal Jincy Ross, far left, when they crossed the stage.
Aspiring nurses, doctors, truck drivers, and “vegetarians” (veterinarians) walked the stage at Brawner Elementary on Friday during its second annual kindergarten graduation.
Since Brawner became a K-5 campus during the 2021-22 academic year, this is only the second time that the campus has held a kindergarten graduation.
“Today, we're celebrating the end of the year and a job well done,” Brawner Elementary Principal Jincy Ross said.
A total of 150 students from eight classes graduated kindergarten on May 19, with each class having its own separate ceremony.
As a special treat to their parents, students also performed the Brawner Elementary version of “Don’t Stop Believin’,” and “You Are My Sunshine.”
"This class is precious,” Sandy Ruiz, assistant principal at Brawner said. “They are like our babies now. We've gotten so close to them.”
And the feeling is definitely mutual, as Ruiz herself has experienced.
“Just a while ago, we kind of gave them high fives as they were leaving and one girl, she said, ‘I'm gonna miss you so much,’” Ruiz said. “I'm like ‘It's okay, honey. I'm gonna be here next year, and so are you.’ They think this is the end.”
“A lot of the kinder kids will cry on the last days,” Ross chimed in. “They will get teary-eyed.”
From their first day feeling jittery and rambunctious to today, Ross said she is proud of her students' growth and maturity.
"When they come to (kindergarten), some of them go to pre-K, but not all of them, so these kindergarten teachers are amazing,” she said.
With five general education classes and three dual-language classes, each kindergarten teacher has worked tirelessly to prepare their children for first grade.
"These ladies have an unlimited amount of patience and love that is poured over your children every day,” Ross said, speaking to the parents during Friday’s ceremony. “We are so thankful to work with Ms. Hardaway and our year-long student teacher Ms. Martinez, and also Mrs. Cheyne, Ms. Escalon, Ms. Herrnandez, Ms. Moreno, Mrs. Rickert, Mrs. Wheeler, and Mrs. Coker. These kinder teachers are truly the best of the best.”
