Awards Assembly

Truth be told, I HATE school awards assemblies.  We survived 4 years in public schooling.  And by the end I was "bad mom" and intentionally pulled my kids out of school early or let them sleep in just to skip those dreaded brag fests (or last year I was volunteering for bounce day the last day of the year awards assembly so I took my kids outside to volunteer WITH me just to skip it.)  When you have a child who struggles in school, THE LAST thing you want is a bright shining alarm to remind them that they AREN'T winning any award, or they get one award at the veeeeeery end for good behavior after their peers just got a "math excellence", "reading excellence", "SOL achievement", "AR points award", etc etc etc.  I HATE AWARDS ASSEMBLIES.

yes one of the last 2 kids called for an "award" 2012

My shy boy, NOT happy to be on stage in front of hundreds of kids--- Good Citizen award 2012

 Then to make it WORSE they have one of these dreaded things every single flippin marking period.  My guess is the teachers dread them too.  You have to mess up the learning routine, keep your class quite sitting on the floor for 2 hours, be organized with your lists of who won what, etc.  It probably sucks almost as much for the teachers as it does the students.  Why do they do them so often, one a year is plenty. 

So fast forward to a new day, new year, new school.  The biggest plus--- just 1 a year and 1 a year is plenty.  I was still secretly dreading it.  But, I did attend and had my kids attend--- that was a change for us after almost a year of skipping them. 
I wish I could so it went perfectly, but I am that mom who hates awards assemblies so although my own children's part went PERFECTLY--- I witnessed a "Jayna-like" moment and my heart was breaking for T.  (T does not stand for Tony.)  I wanted to magically make up an award quickly.  He was little enough he would have been thrilled with that bag of goldfish I had to snack on in my car left over from Kings Dominion.  He patiently waited.  His friends names were called for math awards, phonics type awards and still he stood.  By this point my anxiety ridden Jayna last year would have been teary and I would have yanked her out of there.  But little T handles it well, still giving a few smiles but nearer and nearer the end his smiles faded and his peers got award and still he had nothing.  He even made a shoulder shrug gesture twice, as to "why", but finally he got called for one award while his friends each had 5 or so.  I hope he shrugged it off and was fine afterwards, but I noticed-- being the mom of "that kid" for years.
Kindergarten
The sweet Kindy class, I have grown to love these babes as much as each of my own kids class through our lunch times and recess time together.  Mrs. Thompson read a sweet poem.  Her voice cracked a bit at first.  You could clearly see the bond she has with these little people!

1st and 2nd grade
Jayna Bells getting her awards from Ms. Jeannie.  In true Ms. J fashion, each of her kiddos was awarded their certificate but more importantly a hug too, a sincere one of love from a teacher who loves them so much and is loved by each of her students- past and present.

Jayna's class-- not the best picture, but such is life ;-)

Jayna got a "Superior award" from her keyboarding teacher.  Ms. Jeannie gave each student 2 awards.  Jayna got "Artistic Excellence" and "Christ-like friend to all".

 
3rd and 4th Grade
And some things never change, regardless how much more perfect they are--- this boy and being on stage=zero smiles... even when his teacher is giving him candy, silly boy <3

Anthony's paper awards were "Athletic Award", "Times Tables", and "Excellent Citizenship".  His more important award was his candy-gram.  She awarded each student a candy award--- like
"#1 BASEBALL PLAYER"= A baby Ruth
"You've been good more than plenty of times"= Good and Plenty
"Most Huggable"= Teddy Grams
Anthony won "Joy to be around"= Almond Joy :-)

5th and 6th grade

Mr Billy Told us a bit about each students personalities during his awards ceremony.  It was laughable at times, sweet many times and showed yet again how loved these kids are.
7th and 8th grade

I liked Mr. Doss's way of recognizing his students-  When he said their name, the first thing that came to mind was their award.  He had everything from Most artistic, to prayer warrior, to vocabulary man and even the shovel award--- for "Walking Stick" as Jayna lovingly calls David for being willing to do the hardest of hands on tasks!

All in all the award assembly was good, but room for improvement.  I am not mad about it or jealous my kid isn't a brainiac--- I am however very sensitive to a child's heart and feelings... and sometimes until you are the parent of THAT child who is left out at the awards assembly, you are unaware what a big issue this can be to a kids self esteem!