The district's four elementary schools - Archer, Bayview, Giblyn and New Visions - hosted moving up ceremonies for its fourth-graders, celebrating students' hard work and encouraging them to continue reaching for the stars in fifth grade and beyond.
At Giblyn, fourth-graders serenaded their proud families with a variety of choral performances on the school's front lawn. Students were then awarded for their outstanding achievements in several areas, including academics, music, physical education and perfect attendance. Following the recognitions, fourth-grade teachers announced the names of each student in their classes, who then took the ceremonial walk to receive a special congratulatory handshake.
"What's worth learning is worth working hard for," said Giblyn Principal Amanda Muldowney, who also expressed to the fourth-graders how proud she was of their achievements. "Don't let frustrations get the best of you. Persevere and ask for help; the payoff will be great. Be humble, smile, maintain a positive attitude, be respectful toward adults, peers and yourselves, and follow the golden rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Freeport's moving up ceremonies for its fourth-graders served not only as celebrations of students' accomplishments thus far, but also beautiful precursors to the continuation of their academic careers at Atkinson in the fall.
