Everybody -- BackTo School

It was a dark and rainy day on April 23, 2010. I had an important date with a 1st grader. Last week I attended the end of pre-school program for her younger sister, and this week was the "bigger kids" day at Timnath Elementary School. I was early as I had heard the parking would be at a premium. What fun to see the stages set up and the "Rockin to the Oldies" theme so delightful and colorful. As the parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, baby sisters and baby brothers started arriving the gym was filled with energy and excitement. I was watching for my friends to get there, but couldn't help getting involved in visiting with the folks near me. At 10:00 am the program started with the 2nd & 3rd graders, followed by the kindergarten and 1st graders. That was my main interest and they were absolutely professional, well practiced and perfect. You Are My Sunshine and Small World were my favorites. I was planning to leave after the 1st graders finished, but wait a minute ---- coming up was Sgt Pepper's Loney Hearts Club Band. No self respecting Beatle fan can leave without hearing that. The 4th and 5th graders did a fantastic job on this one. The costumes were perfect replicas of the real Sgt Pepper's Band. The kids loved singing the song and it just goes to prove the Beatles are timeless. The Beatles are old men now, but the youngsters can feel the music they wrote so many years ago.

At the end the whole school reappeared and sat on the floor and the older ones stood behind. The teachers sang "Rock N Roll Is Here To Stay" and the highlight was when several teacher couples came forward in their 1950's costumes and did the jitterbug. The faces of the kids lit up as they saw their teachers having fun and sort of acting like kids. What a great lesson for them to see that the teachers are real people just like them. The grand finale was when the whole school sang and I couldn't help but have a tear in my eye as I watched those beautiful and innocent faces. We are so blessed to have this hope in our midst. Suddenly the World didn't seem quite so dire.

Yes, everyone ought to beg, borrow or steal someone's youngster long enough to attend an end of school program. I'll bet you could even sneak in and no one would know if you didn't have a special entertainer you were waiting for. Believe me, the rain was no obstacle as we all left the school and headed to the parking lot.

Thanks Timnath Elementary for a wonderul program and being good guidance for the next generation. If I had any doubt about the future before this morning, I sure didn't when I left.