A couple weeks ago, we boasted shamelessly about Miriam's school awards and Jacob's violin playing. Well, now it's Philip's turn. And Jacob's again.
Philip had his first-grade award assembly last week and we are pleased to report that he received the highest award in his class: Crusader of the Year. It's hard, as a parent, to know how to feel about this. Of course we're proud of him for winning the award that honors both high scholastic achievement and excellent classroom citizenship. But are we pleased that our child has turned out to be, according to his school, a good crusader? How do we explain this to Muslim friends??
Meanwhile, Jacob completed fifth grade, an event celebrated last week at "culmination." Amid a frenzy of red, white, and blue decorations and a flurry of patriotic songs, about 120 fifth-graders completed their elementary careers. We gritted our teeth through this blatant and unqualified blending of religion and patriotism (take-away message: Good American = Good Christian), until at last they announced the big award winners for each of the four fifth-grade classes. Jacob narrowly avoided winning "crusader of the year" this time (he won it last year), but he did win the award for highest academic achievement. This came with a nice little scholarship -- $250!! If he keeps this up, we'll have little to worry about when it comes to his college tuition.
But of course, we found out the next day that this scholarship will be denied us because we are moving. Thanks, people. Thanks so much. Well, at least we are rich in pride.
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3 comments:
Hooray for the Rienstra boys! Well done, Philip and Jacob. We look forward to celebrating with you in person.
When *are* you moving? I'm excited that you'll be back in my future neighborhood (and you're usual one, I guess...) :)
Hey Rachel!
We take off Monday afternoon -- we'll keep the blog posts coming as we're able while on the road. Our first stop is Yosemite National Park. Wahoo!
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