"Welcome! I am happy to have a few minutes to talk with the whole class, their teachers, and their parents about important things, at this last all-fifth-grade event of the year.
I’d like you to think about a figure 8. Picture one in your mind. Where does it start? Does it have an end point? Today, I’d like to show you how a figure 8 is like the journey that you are on, and we’ll leave today with a visual reminder of future journeys you will take throughout life.
So, a figure 8 really doesn’t have a start or finish. It is just two loops that travel around and around. If you think of a figure 8 as your life, then this Wednesday really isn’t an end, and next September in 6th grade really isn’t a beginning. Instead, all of life’s big events are part of one journey, one that depends every day on the choices that we make.
In a few minutes, we are each going to draw a figure 8 to remind us that life is a continual cycle of making choices. Then, we’ll each turn our figure 8s into a boat, to remind us that we are on a journey. Each person here will write his or her name on the boat as well as a few words that capture a choice that you made this year that made the journey a positive one--for you or for someone else.
Before I show you how to do that, I want to remind you of some choices you have and can make, as you move through your next steps in your own figure 8 of life. In the paraphrased words of someone I respect very much:
Go into new adventures without worry and with courage.
Hold on to everything that is good.
Don’t hurt others even though others may hurt you.
Strengthen those who aren’t as strong as you.
Help those who are sad.
And most of all... Honor and respect everyone because their journey is important too.
So, let’s get going on the drawing. I’ll show you what we are going to do first, and then I’ll walk you through each step and you can draw along with me. When your boat is done, please write your name on the boat itself, and write a few words on the background of the card about a positive contribution you have made this year. As you finish, head out of the gym by either door, and we will staple all the boats to our bulletin boards. After our whole school has a chance to see them, students may take them off the board on Wednesday to keep as a reminder of his or her journey here.
Thank you again, teachers and staff, for providing so many things that have made our journey together a safe, happy, productive one. Thank you, parents for coming and for working alongside us. Thank you, students, for sharing your lives with us, some for three full years. We wish you the very best as you continue on your life’s journey."
Finding the Way
