At the end of each school day, one of the students is chosen to ring this old historic bell in front of Hilton Elementary School. It's one of the many cool things about going to a neighborhood school that was built in 1918.
I don't know how Niko lucked out to be the one to ring the bell to signal not just the end of the day, but the last day of school before summer vacation. But he was so excited, and so proud. And, of course, so was I.
It topped an interesting first year in the public schools.
Niko is smart. He loves to learn. In fact, the other day I was in the kitchen making dinner when I realized he was reading a whole book to his little brother Gregory. Just two months ago he needed to ask me about every other word. This time he did it all without my help.
Niko is also difficult. His teacher and I have been working together to help him control his behavior. He doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He just gets excited and goes over the top easily. And then he spits food at David (thought it would be funny) or kisses Reagan (we talked a lot about how he has to ask a girl before he tries to kiss them). Which lands him in trouble far more often than I would like.
But it's interesting. Despite his issues, or maybe because of them, he's received lots of recognition this year. His artwork was chosen not only to appear in the city-wide art show, but for the cover of the end-of-year PTA program. He got to read the morning announcements on TV. He got all kinds of certificates sent home. He got to ring the bell.
Meanwhile, Lena is very much a mediocre student. She doesn't read as well as Niko, or do math as well as Niko (although she's exceeding all the benchmarks necessary to move on to first grade). She also doesn't act out or get in trouble as much as Niko. And she didn't get anywhere near the kind of recognition that Niko received. She's the artist, and yet her artwork never appeared anywhere. And she didn't get to ring the bell.
It makes me wonder about the squeaky wheel. I'm glad my squeaky wheel is getting the grease. But I hope my quiet one doesn't get overlooked among all the squeaky wheels (and there are many) in public school.
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