As the school year comes to an end for my fifth-grader (with only 21 school days left!), I find myself reflecting on my own journey to middle school. My best friend in elementary school lived just two doors down from me. We had the same purple pin-stripped pants. I loved helping myself to the lemon drops her mom kept in a candy dish on the pass-through. And one time, her house caught on fire and I snuck into the backyard with her as she ran inside to save her favorite stuffed animals. She was my BFF.
Then my family moved, and I now lived just around the corner from our Junior High. I was disappointed when we discovered our lockers were nowhere near each other. We didn’t have any classes together. I chose to take wood shop as an elective. And I liked playing basketball in the morning with the boys. My friend had different interests. With only one middle school in our small town, some kids became “popular” and some girls started to “like-like” some boys. Eventually, we found ourselves eating lunch on the courtyard with different circles of friends.
It has caused me to be mindful as my son makes the journey to middle school that it is always nice to have a familiar friend by your side as you navigate this new venture. But I am confident he will also find new friends at Intellectual Virtues Academy. It is an age where he will discover new interests and like-minded students will share this discovery with him. And maybe they’ll play basketball together before school starts, just like I did.
As the school year comes to an end for my fifth-grader (with only 21 school days left!), I find myself reflecting on my own journey to middle school. My best friend in elementary school lived just two doors down from me. We had the same purple pin-stripped pants. I loved helping myself to the lemon drops her mom kept in a candy dish on the pass-through. And one time, her house caught on fire and I snuck into the backyard with her as she ran inside to save her favorite stuffed animals. She was my BFF.
Then my family moved, and I now lived just around the corner from our Junior High. I was disappointed when we discovered our lockers were nowhere near each other. We didn’t have any classes together. I chose to take wood shop as an elective. And I liked playing basketball in the morning with the boys. My friend had different interests. With only one middle school in our small town, some kids became “popular” and some girls started to “like-like” some boys. Eventually, we found ourselves eating lunch on the courtyard with different circles of friends.
It has caused me to be mindful as my son makes the journey to middle school that it is always nice to have a familiar friend by your side as you navigate this new venture. But I am confident he will also find new friends at Intellectual Virtues Academy. It is an age where he will discover new interests and like-minded students will share this discovery with him. And maybe they’ll play basketball together before school starts, just like I did.