Culmination

Meazi graduated from Pre-k a couple of weeks ago.

Steven made her rainbow eggs for breakfast. What exactly is the limit on how much food coloring a child can have?

My mom was here for the big day.

Melese felt like looking presentable...

He loves to hear the sound of his own voice in an auditorium.

Meazi, as expected, likes to perform. Here she is with her portion of the zoo phonics program. I think she had Ollie Octopus and Peter Penguin.

The kids came out of the classroom, and the principal presented them with a lei and a small stuffed fish. The theme was "Under the Sea." Our friend Deb attended, as did our crossing guard Stella.

Meazi was always the first one at school.

I can't really put into words what this school has meant to Meazi, but here is a note that I wrote to her teachers:

In an emergency, during an accident, whenever someone is experiencing trauma, the people who arrive on the scene to help immediately are called first responders. They tend to wounds. They speak words of comfort and strength to those full of fear, and in shock. Sometimes they even restart a heart. We feel like the four of you, the teachers in room 11, are Meazi’s first responders.

Last August, when we brought Meazi and Melese home to America, Meazi continually spoke the words ‘lijoch’ (Amharic for children), and ‘school’. School was one of a handful of English words that Meazi knew. Meazi had experienced huge losses, was unable to communicate her needs to us, and was very, very, scared. We hadn’t expected to put her in school right away. Her paperwork said she was two, and we figured we had plenty of time to think about school after she had been home with us for a while. Upon meeting her in Ethiopia it was clear that she was older. Her requests for ‘school’ were constant and emphatic. Dr. D, another first responder, saw what we saw, and managed to enroll her in your four-year old classroom with a two-year olds birth certificate. It has been, to date, the best decision we have made for Meazi. The four of you have made a huge difference in Meazi’s life. We are forever grateful.

Like every other parent of a Pre-k’er in room 11, we are thrilled that Meazi knows that bats are nocturnal, that pumpkins decompose, and that dinosaurs are oviparous; more than that though, we are so thankful that you L, M, T, and L were there to tend to wounds, to speak words of comfort, and to even restart a heart.

Thank you.

Meazi on her first day of school...

Meazi on her last day of school...

Next stop, Kindergarten.