Jamestown Elementary School (JES) held its 2021-2022 school year graduation with a ceremony recognizing students moving on to higher grades, some that are moving on to middle school, as well as the impending departure of a longtime and beloved administrator.

Jamestown Elementary School, one of the smallest and oldest schools in the Boulder Valley School District, celebrated the successful completion of the school year for the three graduating fifth graders, Kaia Gjertson, Penelope Kohlhaas, and Tyler Towner. Another student, Morrison Otte received the first honorary graduate recognition as he prepares to leave the community after his fourth grade year.

Patrick Griffin is the teacher of the third through fifth grade classroom, more commonly known as the “olders” classroom. According to Griffin, a total of twenty students were celebrated this year. The kindergarten through second grade was made up of ten students, and the third through fifth grade was made up of ten students as well.

Griffin spoke highly of his class, which is especially poignant due to the tight bond that is developed after spending three years with the same students as they progress through the “olders” classroom.

“We had three graduating 5th graders, two of which have been at Jamestown since kindergarten. All three are dedicated students who always put in their best effort. The students have diverse interests outside of school, ranging from ski racing, to gymnastics, to rock collecting. However, they all enjoy a good piece of candy now and then, as evidenced by their choice to go to Hammond’s Candy Factory as their 5th grade field trip! Their teacher enjoyed this field trip also! Knowing these students so well, the graduation ceremony was emotional for me, as their teacher, as well as for the students and parents. It is sad to send them on to middle school, but I know they will all be successful as they progress in their schooling.”

Jen Baumber, mother of Kaia Gjertson, passed out teachers’ gifts and represented the parents as she addressed the teachers and staff. She was understandably emotional as she addressed the assembled school community as she was saying goodbye to the school that had been home to her two children for a decade.

Scott Boesel, the principal at JES, spoke to the school community and expressed how special and unique of an experience for the families to have the opportunity to receive an education in such a close-knit family environment.

“2021-22 has been quite a year… their resiliency, their willingness to come every day and work hard, has been great,” he said as he addressed the assembled families and students, “I love coming up here, I love sitting in on classes and seeing what’s going on. It’s very special here… it just is, and that’s what makes it special for the kids.”

And the families that have attended JES tend to mirror Boesel’s sentiments.

Beth Brotherton was recognized for her many years of service at the school, and she was presented with a tiara and gifts.

Jen Anderson, the teacher for the kindergarten through second grade, or the “youngers” classrooms, presented end of the year awards to her students, followed by the “olders” classroom receiving their year-end awards from Griffin, and diplomas were given to fifth grade graduates. Some of the youngers had never had the opportunity to celebrate a graduation event, and they were visibly proud as they got to cross over a symbolic “bridge” to the future that was built in the gymnasium. At the end of the graduation ceremony, all the students entered a tunnel created by the raised arms of their parents, crossing through, and emerging from the other end, another year older and

Afterwards, the school community moved to Elysian Park, in the middle of Jamestown, for a potluck luncheon and a final celebration.