North Bergen’s Bruins Stadium was spruced up to look quite festive Tuesday, despite ongoing renovations. There were balloons galore, multi-colored streamers, banners, red carpets, tents, a stage assembled to accommodate 450 students, and chairs for another 800 onlookers. A graduation was about to take place, so everything had to be just perfect – even if the graduates were all of 4 years old.
That’s right, the North Bergen Early Childhood Education program (or pre-kindergarten, in layman’s terms) celebrated a graduation for its 240 toddlers who will now move on to regular kindergarten classes in the fall.
And much like the elementary and high school graduations, this pre-K commencement exercise had all the pomp and circumstance as any other graduation.
There were caps and gowns for the graduates. They each received a diploma. So what if they’re only 4 years old? This was a graduation all the same, and that was evident by the smiles on the faces of the proud parents.
“I think the parents are the ones who get more excited and ecstatic about it,” said Al Tommasino, the district’s Early Childhood supervisor. “The kids are a little nervous because it’s their first graduation. The parents are excited because it’s their kids’ first graduation.”
Because of the size of the program, there were two graduation ceremonies Tuesday, one in the morning and another in the afternoon.
“We really want the students to feel like it is extremely important,” Tommasino said. “It prepares them for what lies ahead.”
The students stood on the stage and performed four songs, including “My Wonderful Terrific Teacher,” and “I’ve Been Going to My Pre-School,” which is sung to the tune of “Working on the Railroad.”
Early Childhood teacher Tina Christ, one of the eight teachers selected as a Teacher of the Year in the district this year, was impressed with the way her students performed.
“Some of these kids barely could speak when they came to us in September,” Christ said. “Now, to see them on stage and actually singing songs in front of a huge audience is really remarkable.”
Added Christ, “Just to see the progress they’ve made in the past year. When they come, they’re so isolated and you have that fear that they may be isolated in the future. But here they are, singing a song on stage. When you see that, you know they’re going to be all right.”
Tommasino said that when he took over the new Early Childhood program last year, he wanted to have a graduation ceremony for the pre-K grads.
“It was a great ceremony last year, so we decided to keep it going,” Tommasino said. “I hope to keep doing it as long as I can.”
However, next year, the ceremony will more than likely be moved to Lincoln School, which will become the permanent home of the Early Childhood program, once the extension and renovations to the school are completed sometime this summer.
Christ, who was a resource teacher before becoming a pre-K instructor last September, is happy to have made the move. She works with special education students.
“You realize you have such an impact on them,” Christ said. “When you hear a kid has disabilities, people fear the worst. But these kids develop and change so much. It’s better than the paycheck and why we’re teachers in the first place. It’s a little sad when you think they’re under your wing for so long and then you have to let them go. You worry about them like they’re your own.”
But after Christ watched her students walk down the aisle, she knew one thing.
“Even though they’re gone and I’ll miss them, it’s nice to see them move on,” Christ said. “I’m happy for them.”
Apparently, the parents are happy as well, even if it means purchasing a graduation present at a very early age.
“I think everyone enjoys it a lot,” Tommasino said. “It’s why we have to keep going.”