Class of 2020

Tonight my {first} baby graduated from elementary school.  As I watched Zach cross the stage and accept his certificate of completion I had flashes of nostalgia and contentment and excitement all at once.  Our boy seems so grown up compared to a lot of his peers (and almost a foot taller than some of them).  He has had a uniquely challenging year, and we are all glad to have survived it, but are also better for it.

Here are a few photos of Zach from the last few weeks.

Zach loved his school's field day.  He placed first in every "ribbon" event for his grade. The only event he lost (got second place) was the three-legged race, and that was because he depended on someone else to get to the finish line.  Ha!  This boy has an athletic future.

Speaking of athletics, Garry led a Family Home Evening about the miracle of our physical bodies.  The kids took turns in a few silly calisthenics, ending with wall sits.  Zach hold the family record with a time of eight minutes.

In early May Zach gave a science fair presentation in his class.  His question: "How does the time of day affect how fast I can run the 100-meter dash?"  Over the course of three Saturdays, Zach ran on a school track at three different times of the day.  He determined that he ran the fastest, on average, at 6:00 p.m., which surprised him.  I visited his class on presentation day.

We have really loved Zach's teacher, Bill Boerman.  He has made a huge difference in Zach's attitude about writing and about learning in general.  Zach has made some great strides this year and we credit a lot of that progress to this fantastic teacher.

Middle School is on the horizon, but we are sure Zach will have fond memories of his elementary years.  So will we.