Values Forum: Family Programs

Traditions - First Day of School

"It's not unusual to wear new clothes specially purchased for the first day of school, but in our family mom stored them in a box labeled DO NOT OPEN UNTIL with the date of the day before school. In addition to the clothes, which we knew about, she always included somethings we didn't know about. Sometimes it was a lunch box, back pack, special binder, pen or something useful for school and something humorous or personal that she had composed for the occasion. This made us look forward to the first day of school each year and is a tradition I intend to continue when I have children of my own."
C.H., Arizona

"When I was five I lived with my grandmother. My grandmother put one of my favorite stuffed animals in the window when I started kindergarten. She said he was waving at me and sad that he wasn't big enough to go to school with me. Later when I lived with my own parents and came to visit my grandmother, she always put that same 'old friend' in the window, eagerly anticipating my visit."
Deborah Chester, Oregon

Last Day of School

"On the last day of school we go out for breakfast. We go to Tommy's or Shari's. We do this every year because we have worked hard all year and we have done good papers. After we go out to breakfast we go to school. I have fun because we only go for a half day."
Angie Lallier, Washington