Cridersville Elementary School 4th graders are now taking their next step in their academic careers.
To honor them for their time at the school, kindergarten to third-grade students lined up in the hallways and clapped as the students make their final walk down the hallways they have spent many years in.
Teachers who were leaving the school or retiring were also part of the walk to thank them for their work in changing students' lives. Since the school is small, the principal says that they often have those emotions due to the close bond that they have.
"We're a very very small school. I think we might have 400 students total so it becomes very family-like in this building," said Jason Wolke, The Cridersville Elementary School Principal. "It's very tough for me as building principal to see our students leave. You always want to keep them home and so it is a rite of passage to have them go to their next stage in their life. This is the 4th grade's graduation, that is the next step for them."
In addition, the school also paid respects to those who were lost in the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas earlier this week. In front of the school, nineteen small chairs represented the students, and two large chairs represented the teachers whose lives were lost.
"They are not going to get the same clap-out that we did as our opportunity we have here," said Wolke. "They too were fourth-grade students. Potentially going on to middle school. So, in honor of them, I asked our parents, our students, and staff, as they are clapping them out, to keep them in mind as well and to clap them out to their middle school careers as well."
