Whispering Palms school was such an awesome place. The boys recieved an unbelievable education, made great friends, had kind and watchful teachers, and an all around great experience. Their last day was no exception. Here are some photos. Unfortunately, they are mostly from Kaden's party because his teacher had her camera. Rest assured that Kierik had a great last day too! Matt and I brought in a cake for all the kids in the school. Everyone was impressed with the cake design. Kaden attempted to eat the octopushead but got a belly ache half way through.
This school has given both of my sons a sense of confidence that they did NOT have before this experience. To prove it, Kaden decided, on his own, that he wanted to sing a song as a parting gift to his class. He went to the computer lab, downloaded the Lyrics to Jack Johnson's "Bubbly Toes" and got his friend John to play back up guitar. Unbelieveable!
As you know, Kaden's hat became an infamous part of him. He wore it nearly every day. He even wore it to PE class in 80 degree weather. The night before his last day of school he announced to me that he would like to "donate" his hat to the school. I chuckled and said, "ohhh Kaden, the school won't want that old hat. Maybe you should leave it home for the last day." Well, he ignored me and low and behold, the class LOVED his idea of donating the hat. They hung it in a special spot, had a ceremony and made a plaque that hangs below it. It reads, "Whoever touches this hat will have good luck. And will maybe get $100."
Each of the kids in Kaden's class got up in front and gave Kaden a special accolade. It started with "What I will miss mosst about Kaden..." He was very moved. He asked his teacher if he could share what he will miss about the class. He was well spoken and articulate naming very specific things and naming his most special people. Finally, his little jaw started to quiver and he told his teacher he was finished. It was a very emotional day.
Oh how I wish we had a video of Kaden performing Bubble Toes. I went on UTube and listened to the song by Jack Johnson and can just imagine Kaden singing it! And the hat becoming a "shrine" to Kaden is just so cute. I'm sure the kids and teachers will never forget Kierik and Kaden. What a life changing experience for them that they will continue to learn and grow from. We're so glad to have them back home...but they're still COLD! What a temperature change! They'll have a pretty big change in clothes when they go back to school here in Wisconsin!
ReplyDeleteIt is sad to know that they may never get back there and if they do everyone may have moved on. Maybe we will have to look at a trip in the next couple of years - all of us?
ReplyDeleteI did stop by this afternoon and crawled into bed with the boys still sleeping at 1pm. We snuggled and I told them that I'm sure they miss Saipan but I sure missed them and I was glad to have them to snuggle with. Lots of hugs and kisses and off to sleep again. I described the snow outside and how we were in the hot tub last night. We were hot except for ice cream headaches from the snow / sleet pelting us as we tried to scrunch under the cover. They laughed and did not want to go out and make snow angels.
We discussed what they missed most. They said they were there three months and they missed everything. I said what if you just arrived back what would you want to do.
Kierik said he would snorkel at a certain beach that I can't recall now. Kaden said he would like to go back to school to see his friends.
We all agreed that we would have to go back again soon. We also agreed that the time on Managaha was special and needed to be repeated.
Grandpa