I hope everyone is hanging in there okay as we continue to muddle through this craziness that is impacting everyone in some way. I never thought I’d live to see such crazy times. As we continue to be out of school, I have continued to find ways to stay connected to our families.

Like I mentioned last month, I had to think out of the box for Mother’s Day. I made glass vases with a black and white photo of the student decoupaged onto them and filled them with fresh flowers along with a note from me and the staff and a Starbucks Gift Card. This was accompanied by a goody bag for each kiddo. Thank you to Jessica Stephens for applying for the Thrivent Action Team project to help us fund these purchases and make our moms all feel special! My daughters and I took a full day on May 8, coffee in hand, to play Fed Ex driver for the day. My sixteen-year-old drove, my 21-year-old navigated and I sat in the back keeping flowers from tipping all over the place and making final touches on the bouquets before hopping out to deliver them on doorsteps. I would then text the mom as we drove away. We had a great mom-daughter time ourselves as we joked about how we felt so sneaky and like we were “ding dong ditching” like kids used to do back in the day. My phone was buzzing constantly throughout the day with the sweetest notes from moms saying how it made them cry with happiness and “made their day.” I also got plenty of precious pictures and videos from the kids and moms alike thanking us for making their day special. These are the things that warm my heart so!

Now we are on to Graduation plans. On May 29 at 11:00 AM we will do a “drive through” version of graduation in the south parking lot. Two moms have offered to do decorations and balloons so we can make it feel as festive as possible. The staff will be standing near the back entrance as we direct one car at a time to drive through and receive their gift bag full of items that both teachers and the other students have contributed and their graduation certificate.

One special gift we give each child is a new tradition we started last year. We purchase the Dr Seuss book “Oh the Places You’ll Go” for each graduate. I include an instruction sheet explaining how the book needs to be given to the teacher at the end of every year during the child’s life, so that when they graduate high school it can be a very special gift for them. Of course, the preschool staff has the privilege of being the first to write a special note to the child. Thank you to Joyce Hart for running the Thrivent Action Team project by which we purchased the books and got them signed.

After the children get their items, the family will drive around to the front of the church where we will have a photo spot for them to take a graduation photo before driving back into the parking lot. Once everyone has been through the parade, the staff will have a microphone to say a few parting words before sending everyone off for the summer.

For the little three-year old students, I will take another day to deliver their belongings to their doorsteps as well, along with all summer birthday bags. I’ve delivered the birthday bags to the kiddos who had birthdays in March, April and May, so I will do the same with the summer birthdays since we would normally be have a big summer birthday party this week if we were in preschool.

Over the summer I, along with Aides Lani and Kassandra, will be doing more organizing and preparations for our Colorado Shines rating. It was supposed to happen in May, but now, we don’t know a timeline yet. Given the current situation, there may be more changes as it relates to Colorado Shines. We simply don’t know. We are taking things one day at a time and are talking about how we may have to do things differently in the fall!

My heart hurts for this situation and the kiddos everywhere who are being impacted. I just know that we are doing what we can to keep everyone as connected as possible and will continue to do so even through the summer.

Prayers and God bless you all as you continue to navigate all of this!

Kandy Wise is the Director of Open Arms Preschool, a ministry of Saint John’s Lutheran Church. You may reach her at 482-1357 or OpenArms@StJohnsFC.org with any questions about the Preschool.