Fifth grade graduation

I already posted Aaron's speech from the fifth grade Night of Reflection, but there was so much more awesomeness to enjoy, both that night and at the all-school graduation ceremony (which was the week after). We were very moved for Aaron to receive the "Spirit of Shoshana Stombaugh" award, for his musicianship and his dedication to Jewish learning. (Shoshana is a founding teacher at SJCS who is retiring this year, and who influenced our family greatly in the past through her joyful leadership of kid services at Temple Beth Am.) Aaron was also specially recognized by one of his teachers for having "grown in his dedication to justice -- especially in his knowledge of politics." Every kid was recognized for something, and justly so: they are an amazing group. They love to argue about Torah, they are outraged by injustice, they creatively re-enact history, and they loooove to perform. They sang all these amazing songs together, and I am so grateful that one of the other parents shared these videos with me. Here they are singing a terrific Israeli pop song: the first group to sing is just Aaron and a couple friends.

Here they are singing "Remember Me," from Coco, but in Hebrew:

And here is Aaron with just a couple of buddies singing their own rendition of the contemporary song "7 years": 

Aren't they something? Maybe you can tell from the videos how beautifully connected they all are to each other. There are no factions in this class; they are all interlinked, and it's gorgeous. After all the ceremonies, they received these fun Jewish bears, and signed each others' with sharpies as a keepsake.

And here is Aaron with two of his wonderful teachers from this year. (Yes, one of his teachers is rather short.)

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