Some of this year’s proud graduates celebrating at Treehouse Montessori School in Yokohama’s annual ceremony. JENNY VYVIAL
March was a month of many changes. At Treehouse Montessori School in Yokohama, March saw the end of the kindergarten years for those students graduating on to Japanese elementary schools, so this year’s graduation ceremony was scheduled a little earlier to accommodate them.
There was a lot of preparation beforehand, and parents volunteered to lend a hand. The unique Treehouse rainbow balloon arches were placed in the school, along with handmade decorations throughout. Students got together to make a huge banner covered in their own handprints, that also had the message, “Congratulations to the Class of 2012” on it.
Graduating and undergraduates played the glockenspiels and sang to celebrate the occasion — they had spent a lot of time practising together beforehand.
Diplomas were handed out, and the graduates smiled when the tassels were turned and the Class of 2012 was announced. Only after the ceremony finished and they went through the rainbow arches were there a few tears, as some of the children realized they were saying farewell to a school that had been a home away from home during their early years. — JENNY VYVIAL
