Logan's School Recognition Assembly

It has never been any secret that Logan has been our toughest child to date.  He entered his "terrible twos" with a vengeance and stayed there for 2.5 years.  He struggled with transitions, hated any situation that was out of his comfort zone, was completely unpredictable in his reactions to any given situation, and threw hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of tantrums.  It wasn't until the summer of 2016 when he turned 4.5 years old and was about to begin PreK that we started to finally see him turn the corner.  The tantrums started to lessen and he finally started to calm down in his reactions to everything in his life.  I clearly remember breathing a silent, sigh of relief when I began to see that Logan was not showing any of these difficult sides of his personality to his wonderful, PreK teacher, Miss Vera, who had been Lia's teacher four years earlier.  Since Lia was almost a perfect toddler and behaved perfectly in any type of classroom situation whether it be church or school, Miss Vera naturally loved everything about Lia and loved having Lia in her class.  I obviously wanted Miss Vera to feel the same way about Logan, but knew there was a chance that her experience with him would be different.  I was incredibly relieved when Logan began to change and mature and become this obedient, respectful, focused child who loved to work quietly and complete whatever task was assigned to him with absolute perfection--especially coloring.  He finished off his PreK year with absolute success loving his overall school experience and his teacher!
Although Logan had his reservations about going to a new school and having a new teacher this past fall (because he still doesn't like big changes), I had hoped that he would quickly adjust and find a new comfort zone in his new class. I am happy to report that within a matter of days, Logan quickly fell in love with all things Kindergarten from his teacher to his classroom to the activities to his classmates.  When I was able to go into his room as a volunteer for the first time in October, I was able to see first hand what a wonderful job he was doing.  His teacher quietly praised Logan's overall performance from his listening skills to his work ethic.  And although I wasn't thrilled about it, his teacher had placed Logan next to the most talkative and disruptive student in the class because he was so focused he wouldn't get distracted by this boy's constant talking.  In addition, his teacher ranted and raved about Logan's amazing, coloring abilities and told me how she had showed his work to the class on multiple occasions as an example of how to color carefully and thoughtfully.  This private conversation in the corner of the classroom was one of the proudest moments of my mothering career.  I was able to see first hand that years and years of love, patience, and consistency had paid off.  I had actually done something right which was an amazing feeling considering how many hard moments I had shared with Logan over the years.  I was so proud of Logan for the changes he had made in the past year and proud of myself for helping to guide him along during some very challenging years that could have been full of anger, frustration, and lots and lots of yelling!
With all of this said, it still came as a surprise when I received an email from Logan's teacher a few days ago telling me that he had been chosen for one of the three awards handed out for his class at the school's first Recognition Assembly of the year.  Logan's and Lia's school holds three Recognition Assemblies a year at the end of each trimester when the teachers are given the chance to recognize three students in their class who exemplify one of the following three qualities: responsibility, respect, and safety. Receiving one of these awards is quite an honor as I have learned through Lia's experience that it just doesn't happen that often.  In Lia's 4.5 years attending this school, she has only been recognized one time!  This says a lot considering what a conscientious student she has always been. So, I was thrilled when I read that Logan was already being recognized at the first assembly of his elementary school career!
Since his teacher asked me to keep it a secret, I only told Lia before I drove the kids to school this morning.  I dropped them off like it was a regular day and then went and parked the car.  Ella and I then came into the school and secretly met Lia in the foyer.  After waiting for Logan's class to be dismissed from the gym, the three of us went inside to grab our seats on the front row of the folding chairs.  After waiting a few minutes with the other parents who were invited to attend the assembly, the classes started to come into the gym.  After seeing Logan's class get seated on the floor, I sneaked up to the front of the gym to get a picture of him sitting in line.  He was so confused as to why I was there and what was going on.  Since it was his first time attending a Recognition Assembly, he had no idea what was happening and, as a result, he was a little scared the rest of the morning--especially after the teacher brought him to the back of the gym to walk in separately with all of the children who were being recognized.  Luckily, Logan's closest friend, Sophia, was the other child being recognized from his class.  As a result, he was able to be next to her during the entire assembly which I know helped him to not panic when he was asked to walk up in front of the entire school to receive his award.  Overall, he made it through the assembly and it was so fun to see him recognized for this big accomplishment in Kindergarten.  Good job, Logie boy!  We are so proud of you!

Logan sitting in his class line while wearing his pajamas (it was pajama day at school).  You can see his confused expression on his face after he realized that I was there.

Logan walking back into the gym with the other children who were being recognized at the assembly.  His good friend, Sophia, is the little girl in the front of this picture.

Logan receiving his certificate at front of  the stage.

Logan and the rest of the Kindergartners holding their awards.

A close-up of my boy with Sophia to his right.

Logan and the other students leaving the gym after the assembly was over.

After Lia went back to class, I was able to find Logan in the back hallway for a picture.  Here he is holding his certificate and star with his name on it (that Lia pulled off the wall).  He still was kind of confused about the entire event that has just happened, so I was unable to really get a smiling picture of him.

Logan't teacher offered to take a picture of us the three of us before he went back to class, so here is Ella and I posing with our pajama-clad boy.

And a close-up of Logan's certificate.  On the back, Mrs. Kirklie had written the following:

"I have so many wonderful things to say about Logan!  He is a hard worker, tries his best, and is respectful, but the thing that stands out to me the most is his work ethic.  He will come in the class after recess, pull out a job we were working on that he didn't finish before, and work on it.  I never ask him to do that, but love that he has a need to complete his work and recognizes the opportunity of bits of time he has to do that.  Other Kindergarteners will chat with their neighbors or play around, but Logan usually gets right to work!"