Thoughts about a 4th grade graduation

Yesterday was the last day of school here, and as is tradition, we had a fourth grade walk-out where the whole school lined the halls and cheered on the graduating fourth graders as they left the building for the last time. I did not watch last year, as it was my first year and I was busy getting ready for teacher check-out the next day, so I didn't get a chance to watch it then. But I did this year, since I was more on top of things and I had connected with more students. First, the temperature and smell in the hallway with almost six hundred six- through eight-year-olds was almost unbearable. It was hot, humid, and stinky. Lots of little bodies making body heat! And before the fourth graders even came down, some of the children were already crying. There was a cluster of second grade girls just outside the office door where I stood that were sobbing and holding each other like their lives depended on it. Second, as the fourth graders came walking down, about half of them were crying…