Ewa Olguin, StrongStart coordinator at Diamond Vale Elementary School, wanted to make sure that the children graduating from her program to Kindergarten wouldn’t be overshadowed by high school graduations or forgotten in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent classroom restrictions.
“We really wanted to make sure that the children are included somehow and not forgotten,” said Olguin.
“Because of the recent issues surrounding COVID 19, we are unable to have our regular graduation celebrations for these little boys and girls. Instead we have celebrated in a unique, distant manner.”
Normally, Olguin hosts a graduation celebration in her classroom at the end of the school year for those moving on to Kindergarten classes, to recognize their accomplishments and wish them well in the years of their education to come.
“Normally I do StrongStart’s celebration in my class,” said Olguin.
“Every year I have children who graduate from my program and they move on to kindergarten, and I always do a little grad. The principal will come and the parents of the children. We sing, we have cupcakes, and we do pictures, because other children they will graduate from Tumbleweed preschool or White Bear Daycare preschool. They’re wonderful programs in the community too, but not everyone can afford them.”
Olguin has been with StrongStart for eight years, and views it as an important part of the community and education, not only for the children but for their families as well.
“StrongStart is a free program run by the school district and it’s for children with their family members,” said Olguin.
“When you have a preschool, you go drop your children off, you pay for it and you walk away. My program is for free in the community for the parents and ages newborn to five years old. It’s like a preschool, but it’s learning by playing. We learn by playing and singing, focusing on social well-being and having fun while being kind to others always.”
This year, Olguin had to get creative with her graduation ceremony, so she approached Diamond Vale Principal Kevin McGifford and District Principal, Student Support Services Jane Kempston with her idea of a ‘socially distanced’ graduation, much like what high school graduates were doing with their ‘Travelling Commencement’.
“I went to my boss, Jane and to Kevin and got their permission to organize a little gift bag,” said Olguin.
“Normally every year moms and kids are making their own hats, but this year I made all the hats myself and I got the certificate and I went to each house of each child and I dropped off the gift, and from far away I wished them all the best and took a picture of them. They were a little sad because we couldn’t do this together as a family, as a community but they were excited on the other hand that they were not forgotten.”
Parents and students were indeed both surprised and pleased to be able to have their own private graduation ceremonies, with some parents even taking to social media to praise Olguin and all of the work she did to make the graduation happen, and also to keep in contact with them throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the schools being closed, every day at 10a.m., Olguin connects with her students virtually to check in and continue their classes.
“What I’ve been doing since COVID started, I don’t have my little people here and their wonderful families, so I’ve been doing Zoom calls,” said Olguin.
“Every day at ten o’clock I have a StrongStart class and we all meet every morning. We sing together, we do letters, we do storytelling, and science projects.”
For Olguin, it is a love for the children and their education that drives her to celebrate them in any way possible, despite not being able to have them in her classroom.
“I just didn’t want them to be forgotten in all of this,” said Olguin.
“I just wanted to really tell them, we appreciate you and yes, you are the little people, but you matter because one day you’re going to be the big people. One day you’re going to be the nurse that saves my life, one day you’re going to be the builder that builds my house, and all that I strongly believe starts from the beginning, learning by playing and including the little children. Recognizing them, who they are. That was very important to me personally.”
