There were balloons of congratulations, white caps and gowns, and proud, teary-eyed parents snapping pictures of nervous, anxious students. Of course, there was pomp and circumstance, like there is at most commencement exercises and graduations.
However, the graduation ceremony that was held at the Weehawken Free Public Library last Saturday wasn’t the typical graduation because the graduates were only three and four years old.
But to the proud parents of the 32 youngsters, it was a graduation all the same, one that brought out the same level of pride found at the high school graduation five days later.
The 32 happy graduates were participants of the Library’s Story Time Program, where the toddlers are not only read to on a regular basis, but also learn the alphabet, counting, social skills, as well as do arts and crafts projects.
According to Story Time Coordinator Donna Morris, the program, now in its seventh year, continually grows along with the children themselves.
“It’s gotten to the point where we need to have a stand-by list,” Morris said. “It keeps getting more popular as the years go by. It’s now a long-standing tradition.”
The toddlers attend either a class on Tuesday afternoons or Saturday mornings from October through June. They are taught skills to prepare them for early childhood pre-kindergarten classes in the fall.
“When they come in, they’re very shy and afraid to leave their parents,” said Weehawken Free Public Library Director Phillip Greco. “But by the time the end of the year comes, they are on their own and ready for regular school.”
“We have all the pomp and circumstance,” Morris said. “We want to make it as close to the real graduation as possible. We practice with the caps and gowns, but it’s hard to have the kids keep them on, no matter how much you practice. However, they were exceptionally well behaved and everything went off without a hitch.”
The graduates performed a number of songs, including “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” “ABC,” “This Land Is Your Land,” and “The World Is a Rainbow.”
“We used the rainbow as our theme,” Morris said. “It was to show unity, respecting each other and the rainbow brings it all together. We had their hand prints placed all over the world as part of the decorations. It was really nice.”
Of course, there were proud parents snapping pictures and wiping away tears.
“I think every parent has that feeling of pride seeing their kid do such a nice job,” said Morris, who is the mother of three former Story Time graduates. “When they come to us, we encourage the parents not to come in to the library, so the kids can get along on their own. Our story teller, Barbara Bodtmann, helps me with the kids in the room and does a great job. By the end of the year, the kids have a foundation to start school.” Greco, who distributed diplomas to every graduate, loves the graduation ceremony with the toddlers.
“It’s absolutely adorable to see them in their caps and gowns,” Greco said. “It’s the fruition of their first year of learning. The people who conduct the program do a great job and have a lot of work to do in putting together the projects. It really is a good program and we’re happy to provide it.”
The graduates of the Tuesday class were as follows: Haley Allen, Tekiana Caraballo, Grace Marie Denfeld, Christopher Devaney, Noelle Christin De Vries, Anthony D’Ippolito, Emma Choi Fitzpatrick, Mauro Godoy, Julio Ceasar Gomez, Phillip Rudin, Amna Shah, Raza Shah, Sher Shah, Jasjeet Singh, Exavier Torres, Prem Nath Trehan, Gil Utrubia and Jon Luc Zentner.
The graduates of the Saturday class were as follows: Christopher Cheng, Nicole Tyler Clarke, Joseph L. Espinoza, Samantha Harper, Sydney Harper. Isabel Jaffoni, Peyton A. Kennedy, Diuky Pardon-Marrero, Edward Rae, Emma Spahic, Lukas Stever, Jelanie K. Vasquez, Raymond Vasquez III and Adrian Giang Voysey.