Priceless

Wednesday late morning breakfast: $5. Gas to drive to school: $23. Food truck empanadas: $3 ($2.50 for two). Kindergarteners faces upon seeing the seniors: priceless. Every year, seniors and kindergarteners are involved in Miami Country Day School’s program, Kinder to College. October 8th, 2014 marked the first day that seniors and kindergarteners had the chance to unite in front of the amphitheater and get to know one another. To break the ice, we played with parachutes, jump ropes, bean bags, and toy balls – all of which brought equal amusement to the kindergarteners as well as the seniors. I had the chance to interact with a kindergartener named Lola. She informed me of some very important, need-to-know facts about her. First off, after holding up three fingers for awhile, she decided that she is four, she loves to color, and enjoys playing with her little sister. When our time ended, Mr. Pineda admitted that, “It really was the best 1st Kinder to College day I have ever seen.” And the sweat running down all the seniors faces after playing with the kindergarteners was evidence of a job well done. – Jaclyn Lash

This mornings Kinder to College experience was amazing and extremely gratifying. Being that I have been here since Kindergarten, as many of my classmates have, it was unbelievable to see how small we used to be and how much Spartan pride and energy we possessed as little kids. Kinder to College is an amazing tradition that I wish MCDS would have had when I was little because my “buddies” taught me a lot today and I taught them lessons that will hopefully stick with them. Mila Boano’s buddy expressed sadness because he could not get the soccer ball because he was not as fast as the other kids. Mila bent down and told him that there was no reason he couldn’t do it and that he should run as fast as he could and do the best he could. Her buddy got up and chased the ball with all his might and it was amazing to see how well he responded to her and how well the other buddies responded to their senior pairs. Overall, even though it was brutally hot outside, the experience is one I loved and look forward to enjoying over and over again throughout the coming year. – Sidney Thomas

The Kinder to College meet we had today was absolutely exceptional. It’s kind of funny, seeing how small the kids were reminded me of how my friends and I were when we were in Kindergarten. I was happy to have a shy, yet marvelous young joy by the name Franco, who was a spanish-speaker. Being that I myself come from a latin background, I was able to better communicate with Franco. He seemed to open up a bit once we started playing catch. Honestly, just getting the experience to be with these kids was truly amazing. Although the heat was scorching hot, I felt the time we had with them was well worth it, and I hope to see my buddy again soon.  – Eduardo Ratner