Our tradition for the last day of school is to have a picnic in Armitage Park to celebrate and reflect on the year together at Wellsprings. The yearbook is distributed and students and teachers spend time writing personal notes each other's copy. Then we eat hot dogs, cheeseburgers, veggie burgers, and chips for lunch.
Once again this year, teachers Bob and Tyler ably did the burger and hot dog cooking on the grill (after students helped start the coals with a roaring flame).Next came a challenge between students and several decorated pinatas created by fellow students. Like last year, the pinatas got the best of the baseball bat (and the rope got away from the pinata time after time):
Following the pinata battle, we had our traditional ceremony of gifting painted rocks to every student. Teachers paint the rocks with students' names along with a word or two that are symbolic of a particular quality the young person conveyed to the school community during the year. The presentation of a rock to each student brings rounds applause for everyone, lots of laughter, and many hugs between teachers and students.
We had a great time together on a cool Oregon day with lots of clouds, a mix of very light rain, and some brief bursts of sunshine to brighten our celebration. Our 18 seniors will be at graduation practice tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. and walking down the aisle in the evening. We wish our graduates all the best for their lives and for our returning students, an enjoyable summertime!
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