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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Last Day Of School Is Full Of Fun And Colors

The last day of school is a time for joy and ceremony and learning about goodbyes. At Adams Elementary School, the farewells took many forms.

Kindergarten teacher Marian Cox accepted a peony from Danny, a rose from Austin, daisies from other children - so many flowers, she sent a visitor for an extra vase.

“I have a big attachment to this class,” Cox said. “I just might get crazy and cry.”

Her children quickly settled into their first task, coloring the matching clown faces. Cox uses a gentle voice with the little ones, her words barely reaching the far side of the class. But every child happily hummed along at their work, while Cox tended to interruptions - greeting a latecomer, answering the phone, making sure David had math problems to take home.

“His dad called and wanted homework problems. I recommended the library’s summer reading program to him, but they don’t have a car,” Cox said.

Two boys, Trenton and Austin, debated over a letter on the board.

“Is that a d or a b?” Trenton asked.

“That’s a b,” Austin said. “A, B, C, D.” And he sang the alphabet song, just to be sure.

Snacks and informality were the order of the day in some classes. Across the hall from Cox’s kindergartners, a class ate popsicles, never mind that it was only 9 a.m.

One boy, perhaps a fifth grader, walked down the school hall with his mother. Each carried a long stemmed red rose.

“Let’s go through this one more time,” the boy said to his mother. “Why am I carrying this?”

Because his teacher had done a wonderful job without kicking the boy out of her class, the mother fondly replied.

Sixth graders in David Harton’s class clapped wildly as their teacher called each of them to the front.

“OK, Kevin Cook.” Kevin walks up front. The applause fades.

If I was going to give an academic award,” Harton said, “This is the character I would give it to.”

“What does ‘academic’ mean?” asked a student in the back.

In his office, retiring Principal Glenn Bailey fed the fish in his aquarium and got ready, one last time, to check out teachers, go through students’ files and make sure that everything is ready for his successor, Jerrol Olson.

“I’m getting everything done, just as if I was coming back in September,” Bailey said.

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