Graduate Highlight: Kaylee
Our next sixth-year graduate, Kaylee, shares her experiences in Montessori, her love of science, and personal thank-you's to her friends and guides below.My time being a Villa student has been like a roller coaster with all its ups, downs, twists and turns. It has been the ride of my life, and has helped shaped me into the fun, loving daring and weird person I am today.
I have always loved Montessori and I have many favorite lessons, so I am going to sum it up with one word: science. Much like a roller coaster, science is my thrill ride. In Lower El, my favorite lesson was Prelude to the Winds because we learned about how hot air rises. I’ll never forget when we accidentally caught the spiral on fire! And, in Upper El, we dissected a cow’s eyeball! It was so cool to see all the parts and, when we were done, we took the lens and made it into a magnifying glass!
Like riding a roller coaster, it takes courage to succeed, right? Well, at MMUN, I used a lot of courage to go up and deliver my opening speech in front of 100 people. Boy, that took some real guts! My life lesson from the whole Montessori community is to always be independent—it’s the Montessori way, to do things for yourself. One of my best memories from Villa di Maria was when we went to the MMUN—it simply was one of the best experiences of my life. One the last day, we went on a cruise ship around Manhattan; it was something I will never forget like when you are on a roller coaster and your will never forget how long you have to wait in line.
Speaking of waiting in line, you know how when you are waiting in line, all alone, ready for a ride, well, that’s what life would be like without friends—boring and lonely. But, in this case, I don’t have that, you guys [spoken to 6th grade graduate friends in the front row] mean the world to me. So, I’d like to say something about you:
To Julia, you taught me to be a hard worker and a great leader.
To Bethany, you taught me to be humble and kind to everyone around you.
To Emily, you taught me to overcome fears, no matter how hard it is.
To Kat, you taught me to always love books!
And, yes, boys, I’m going to say something about you too… [boys were cued to groan at this….]
To Simon, you taught me to never hide your inner animal—get it…salmon…okay….
[Kaylee holds up a prop, which on one side has a photo of Simon on a popsicle stick, while on the other has a photo of a salmon, his personal moniker].
To Cameron, you taught me to always follow the rules.
To Seth, you taught me to always be happy, and even when I am down, you always cheer me up with your stupid jokes. Oh, Mrs. Rebecca, did I say a bad word? Pshh, whatever….
And to Luke, you taught me to live life like no one is watching. Eat any paper lately?
Before I say the rest, I would like to thank my teachers for all they have done for me. Mrs. April, Mrs. Nidhi, Mrs. Lebeau, Mrs. Anderson, Mr. Justin, and last, but not least, Ms. Rebecca, who has been the best teacher ever. She has been so good, helping me with things that I don’t and do understand. If I didn’t understand, she would take the time to explain it to me until I do. And the last people that I want to thank are my parents, for all that they’ve done for me, especially for paying for my time at school.
The last year I was in the Upper El, we got kicked out of the Villa building and were moved to Laumeier. I thought it wouldn’t be the same, but it has been awesome. It has been a great last year for me and I hope the rest of the kids have a fun time in the new building. I will miss everyone, but I am going to move on with my life and have a new beginning. It’s time for a new ride!
The best of luck to you, Kaylee, and thank you for sharing your memories and sense of humor!