Pre-K students celebrate the end of school year

DECATUR -- For children around the country, summer vacation marks the beginning of activities such as swimming, picnicking, camping and long afternoon naps. Students at the Decatur Pre-K school in Decatur marked the beginning of these activities by celebrating the end of the 2016-17 school year on May 22.

More than half of the students enrolled in the Pre-K program will move to kindergarten classes at Decatur Northside Elementary School Aug. 14, while the rest, who are too young to move into kindergarten, will remain in Pre-K. Rather than holding a graduation ceremony like the ones at the Decatur High school and Northside elementary schools recently, Joyce Turnage, Pre-K teacher, planned a day-long activity involving everyone in all three Pre-K classes.

"Instead of holding a graduation ceremony," Turnage said, "we decided to hold an end-of-the-school-year celebration so that all of our students can have a chance to participate."

The first part of the program took place in the cafeteria at Decatur Northside Elementary School when each individual class performed two choreographed songs, each unique to those students. Each performance was met with a heartfelt round of applause by the parents and assembled guests.

But the star of this year's program was the duet of Brayden Neighbors and Peyton McCraw, who lip-synced to the 1983 Elton John hit, "I'm Still Standing." Peyton, holding the microphone, was lead singer, with Brayden serving as backup. The audience, getting into the performance, clapped to the beat.

From Northside, the program moved to the Decatur Pre-K playground, where fun and games abounded. Parents were able to share in the fun with their children. The students engaged in such activities as blowing bubbles, hula hoops, blocks and hop-along bouncers, while the adults enjoyed a little quiet time at several picnic tables scattered around the playground.

One of the most popular activities for the kids came shortly after the event started when two activity tables filled with a mixture of sand and water were drained, causing a stream of excess water to flow across the playground asphalt. The kids took full advantage of this by re-enacting the famous Gene Kelly dance sequence from the 1952 movie, "Singing in the Rain," in which Kelly splashed through puddles of water along a curb. The kids enjoyed walking, running, jumping and even dancing through the puddles.

The event concluded with lunch shared by students, teachers, assistants and parents. Judging from the smiles and laughter coming from not only the kids but also the adults, the Decatur Pre-K end-of-school celebration was a resounding success.