Fifth Grade is Fun

As we near the end of the school year, Daniel has had some fun things going on. Last week was his DARE graduation. For those who don’t know DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. It is taught by a police officer and teaches kids about the effects of abusing drugs, how to resist peer pressure, the legal ramifications of illegal drugs, etc. In order to graduate from the program the kids must participate in the lessons as well as complete a workbook and write an essay. The teachers choose the top six essays from each class and then the DARE officer passed those essays around to some of his fellow officers who chose the top two (one boy and one girl) from each class. Daniel was one of the winners for his class so he got to read his essay at graduation. He was presented with a medal, a water bottle, a pencil, and eraser, and a stuffed lion for being one of the winners. He had no idea that he would receive anything, so he was pleasantly surprised!

Today was Daniel’s Young American Program. The fifth grade in our school has an award that the kids can earn called the Young American. In order to receive the award they must know all fifty states and capitols, the Gettysburg Address, the Preamble to the Constitution, all forty-four Presidents of the U.S. in order, the first and fourth verses of the Star Spangled Banner, and get at least 90% correct on 100 questions about U.S. history. It takes them all year to earn the award. I don’t know about all of you, but I most certainly don’t remember all that stuff. As part of their state reports, the kids had to make a float that showed off some of the things they had learned about their assigned states. Each float was required to be equipped with wheels of some sort. Before the program they had a parade of floats around the outside of the school. It was really fun! During the program the kids get to show off what they have learned as well as receive their awards. I think it is a really great way to get the kids excited about their country and while I don’t know about the other kids, I know that Daniel is pretty darn proud of himself for earning his award.