I've dreaded writing this speech for 7 years. I've tried everything from making stupid things on my computer instead of working on my speech, to deciding to quit school the day before graduation. As you can see, this attempt has failed.
I've had a lot of really useful experiences at Gladwyne Montessori School, some of which I'm about to rattle off to you.
But instead of chronologically listing my escapades at GMS, I decided to do it backwards, starting with 6th grade and ending with my entrance into kindergarten. Let's start with the best part of the year, summer vacation. I get to go to different places and have a lot of fun. I love it. Anyway, back to school...
I have not yet gone on the class trip at the time of this writing, so I know nothing about that. I hope it will be good, though. 6/5/07 – I went on the trip and it was AWESOME!
In 6th grade, Nick and I performed a reenactment of the "Argument Clinic" sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus. We were both Monty Python fans, and half the people in the school thought we actually had British accents, which was fun (for a while...)
Earlier in the year, we started practicing for the Wachovia Center. We got to go to Coco's room, and do cool music stuff twice a week. The actual performance would have been even better, except that the Wachovia didn't give us enough speakers. GAH!
Then I entered 6th grade. Almost all the 6th graders seemed like they were sorta friends with each other, and it was awesome to be part of that group.
5th grade wasn't a very good year, so let's skip it.
On to 4th grade! I entered Upper El, met a bunch of new people, and did a lot of foreign, interesting things. Highlight: for the auction project, I got to paint a ruffed grouse on a bench. I watched as it transformed from something like a fashion boot into something like a bird.
In Meg and Lois' class, I liked doing the checkerboard and bead frame with Michael, and going through the grammar boxes.
I liked most of the work (except the racks and tubes. I couldn't stand the racks and tubes!) and I started to get prepared for Upper El. Their class started to introduce me to the "learn at your own pace" Montessori method, which I definitely enjoyed. I was able to learn as fast or as slow as I needed to.
And lastly, or firstly, or whatever, kindergarten. The highlight was the "how to tie your shoes" lesson. But a kid's head was blocking my view, and I never actually learned how to tie my shoes until a few years later.
So that's it. A very small sample of the many things that have happened to me at Gladwyne Montessori School. I've been at GMS so much that it's sort of weird to realize that this was my last week here. I've learned so much stuff here, even from people I didn't like. I'm interested to see what the world is like outside GMS, but I'll still miss it a little. But, in any case, I hope I'll get to come back.
I'd like to thank my teachers for teaching me stuff, my friends for being really awesome, and duct tape for always being there for me. Thanks!
Jordan will attend Germantown Friends School