EDUCATION

Grand Finale

AMY J. MEltER

Staff Writer

I

Cheryl Blau's
5th Grade
Graduates
Leonhard
Elementary
School.

n this basket, I have a gift
for each of you," Cheryl Blau
tells her pupils two days be-
fore their June 10 gradua-
tion from Leonhard
Elementary School. "You may
select the one you want as I vis-
it your area, but you must not
open it."
Miss Blau strolls up and
down the rows of the room in
which she has taught since Sep-
tember. In her hands rests a
large wicker basket, decorated
with pink-and-green ribbons.
Each gift is wrapped in a white
napkin and tied securely at the
top.
The gifts I have given you
are each one of a kind," she says
softly. "There is not another ex-
actly like the gift you hold in
your hands anywhere on the
planet or in the universe.
"Although they are similar in
some ways, each gift has its own
patterns, designs and combina-
tion of colors," she says. "Each
gift has its own individual flaws,
too — a scratch here, a smudge

there — all of which go into
making each gift its own unique
and special, one-of-a-kind self."
The class is sitting still. Ner-
vous excitement rises like a clus-
ter of freshly released hot-air
balloons. One by one, students
reach out to select their pre-
sents. They place them careful-
ly on their desks. They are
permitted only to undo the
wrapper a little, so they can see
the top part of the gift.
"Notice and enjoy the design
and colors on yours," Miss Blau
says. "Keep in mind that there
is not another one like it, not
even one anywhere in the world.
"Now, flip over your gift," she
says. "As you are gazing into
your special mirror, I want you
to think about something."
The class hold their mirrors
so they are looking only at them-
selves. Miss Blau tells them a
story.
"When you first walked into
this classroom, that very first
day, you were already magnif-
icent, each of you unique and
special as these gifts," she says.
"Throughout the year, I have
tried every way I could think of

Final in
an occasional series
on life in the fifth grade.

Cheryl Blau congratulates fifth-grade student Sherry Lynn Kraft.

48

FRIDAY

to give to you opportunities to
see for yourself how creative,
bright, valuable and capable you
each are.
"I didn't put it in you," she
adds. "Anything you have be-
come or accomplished this year
was already in you when you
walked in the room that first
day. I just helped you to see it
for yourself."
Miss Blau's words were re-
peated the morning of June 10
as Leonhard School Principal
Carol Pyke, honoring a time-
worn tradition, bid farewell to
more than 100 fifth-grade stu-
dents.
"Keep working hard, keep
keeping at it until you get it,"
Mrs. Pyke said quoting the let-
ter Miss Blau had written her
class. "Keep asking questions;
keep expressing your opinions;
keep using words instead of vi-
olence to resolve conflicts. Keep
caring about the earth and the
future."
The message reverberated
across the school's lunchroom,
which also doubles as the school
auditorium. The room, usually
overflowing with hordes of rav-

enous children, was today filled
with teary-eyed teachers, school
administrators and doting par-
ents with video recorders and
cameras.
Marlon Gisi, off to Birney
Middle School next year, held
the American flag as he led the
fifth-grade procession toward
the rows of bleachers set up in
front of the stage. Leonhard's
four fifth-grade classes had prac-
ticed now for weeks, singing
over and over again the school
song during recess, lunch, in be-
tween classes.
Marion Mansfield, Leon-
hard's music teacher, worked
with the graduates, teaching
them the words to the song, "I
Like Being a Kid," which stu-
dents performed the morning of
graduation.
The week before, Miss Blau's
students explained how they felt
about leaving Leonhard, a
school some had attended since
before first grade.
"I think I'm going to like get-
ting out of Leonhard and going
to a big school," said Danny
Weiss, who will attend Orchard
Lake Middle School.