Students exchange memories and phone numbers, share plans for summer and plot a fresh start in August. When it's the end of a school year, it's all good.
By JOY DAVIS-PLATT
Published May 29, 2003
[Times photo: Kevin White]
Brooksville Elementary School students wave and cheer at their teachers as their school bus leaves on the last day of classes Wednesday.
On the last day of school at Parrott Middle School, Patricia Davis and her friends sat in the cafeteria writing notes on one another.
"We wrote things like "bye-bye' and our phone numbers," Patricia said, looking down at the brown ink scrawled over her forearm. "It was a fun last day of school."
As the final hours of the 2002-03 school year wound down Wednesday, students around Hernando County reflected on their accomplishments and looked forward to both summer and a fresh start in the classroom in August.
When she enters eighth grade next school year, Patricia said, her goal will be the same as this year.
"I have to try not to get written up," she said with a laugh. "I made it through this year with only a warning, so I think I can do it."
Francis Floyd picked up her 13-year-old daughter, Kia, a bit early from Fox Chapel Middle School on Wednesday.
"My kids think summer is deadly boring," she said. "They start to mope around when they have nothing to do."
Floyd said she misses an after-school program her kids used to attend where they made money.
"It really helped keep them off the streets," she said. "Kids need to have something to do. '
For Kia, it may be difficult adjusting to a slow summer after so much time practicing for the intramural tennis team and studying to keep her grades up.
"The grades have to come first," her mother said. "She knows that."
Next year, Kia hopes to join the volleyball team as a ninth-grader at West Hernando Middle school.
At Brooksville Elementary School, Adam Caldi left his kindergarten class graduation loaded down with the rewards for earning good grades - medals, certificates and the remnants of vanilla frosting clinging to his lips.
"I got this," said Adam, 6, holding up a small silver medal hanging from his neck by a purple ribbon, "because I had good grades."
He said he is excited about plans for a visit with his cousins in North Carolina over the summer, despite the fact that they do not share his love for school.
"Next year, we get to do the multiplication tables," Adam said. "I already know some, but we get them all in first grade."
During the graduation ceremony, Adam and his classmates sang songs like Love Is and Little Turtle.
"He had a great year," said Adam's father, Ron, tousling his son's hair. "He sets a very good example for his cousins and his younger brothers."
- Joy Davis-Platt can be reached at 848-1453 or joy@sptimes.com
