Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.  Last Wednesday, May 24, 2017, the Little Bear Preschool honored students who had achieved their educational goals and had done what they needed to do to move on to kindergarten. In the world of academic ladder climbing, it may not seem like a big step, but you would never know that by looking at grown men and strong women reaching for the Kleenex as they realized that their babies, their toddlers, were taking that first big step to growing up.

The children entertained the parents and received memory books and ate snacks and had their pictures taken.

Parent Jen Karowe said, "Lizzy got up this morning and said, 'Mommy, I'm going to graduate today." She had watched her brother Dylan graduate twice and had been looking forward to having her own celebration.

The Class of 2030, the 26th graduating class, is on its way, taking that first step into the world of "real school," of learning how to read and write and use computers and how to be kind and caring and share.

Before the kids were released to have cake, they told the audience what they wanted to be when they grew up. Ayla Dewart, a teacher; Corbin Coil, a firefighter; Elise Brenick a rock star; Lizzy Karowe, a ballerina; Madison Miller, a mommy; Max Wrobel, a construction worker or a policeman; Olivia Markiewicz, a princess; Tilly McClyman, a police officer; and Wyatt Dodge, a builder.

On Friday, May 26, the Caribou Preschool at the Nederland Elementary School graduated two preschool classes, morning and afternoon sessions.

Each of the classes held their own party which was a farewell to the graduates as well as a farewell to their teacher Eliza Kramms who is moving on.

The students received diplomas and yearbooks containing pictures of themselves and their classmates as seen through their own eyes.

With 12 more years to go, it may seem like a small step, but every year of learning builds on the previous one and every lesson learned is another increment towards become a lifetime learner.

(Originally published in the June 1, 2017 print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)