Graduations

Graduation season with all its fanfare has come and gone.

Now when and where I grew up there was only one graduation ceremony: the high school graduation ceremony. At the end of middle school, I believe that there was an awards ceremony and dessert. And, at the end of elementary school, there was a class party. And, I can't really speak to pre-school, because few if any students in my hometown attended pre-school or nursery, and I highly doubt there was any fanfare upon "graduation."

There was only one opportunity (before college) to dress up in Robes, Mortarboards, tassels, and ropes and walk down the aisle to music in front of family and friends to Pomp and Circumstance, or some other chosen music.

Recently, I have been introduced to a myriad of graduation ceremonies, ranging from the pre-school graduation through the high school graduation. Since I had never heard of such a thing as a pre-school or elementary school graduation, my interest was peaked. And, when we were invited to a Yeshiva elementary school graduation that was being held in a beautiful synagogue, I jumped on the opportunity to attend. (My husband was still at work at 2PM or 3PM in the afternoon, so I went stagg. Well, actually, I went stroller in tow).

I'm not sure what I expected to happen at an elementary graduation. Somehow I did not expect elementary school "graduates" to be wearing the full graduate regalia and to flip their tassel from one side to another. I guess I will have to add graduation robes, to be worn once, to our household budget. Anyone know how much this will run me?

Truth be told, I didn't know companies manufactured gowns in those sizes, or that there was such a market for gowns for elementary school graduations. When I was in high school, I was one of the shorter students. Let's just say it wasn't too easy to find a gown short enough for little me. (Let's just say short Jewish kids weighing around 100 pounds were a small minority in my school that fielded one of the top football teams in the state). I believe the rental gown company ($17 rental) ended up calling their headquarters to have an extra gown shipped special. I wasn't too happy that my $17 check ended up landing me a robe with a few small holes in it. But, at least we didn't have to buy a gown that would never, ever be worn again (the color was hideous, incidentally).

For a while I assumed that elementary and middle school graduations must be something introduced into Jewish schools, for whatever reason, since I had never heard of such a thing. . . Until I started asking around to some non-Jewish kids that I know and work with. Apparently, the graduation business has really bloomed and full scale ceremonies for all ages are the norm, at least where I live. What a surprise! I'm not that old. But, times change quickly.

My personal opinion is that middle school and elementary school graduations (kol v'chomer pre-school graduations) are not necessary and that there is no real need to celebrate, in such a grand fashion, what should be expected. Does anyone expect their child not to graduate pre-school, or elementary school?

It seems to me that when we celebrate what should be expected, it just diminishes real accomplishments. I believe an awards ceremony followed by a dessert would suffice just fine for younger children and that the fanfare should be saved for events that are more significant in the scheme of things.

But, in the meantime, I will just make sure to budget graduation robes and motarboards into the household budget. Let's just hope that nobody decides, in the meantime, that elementary and middle school grads need class rings, professional photos, or other graduation mementos. At least I don't have to worry about a pre-school prom!

So, what does the readership think?