Friday OT - School’s Out Forever!

[Angie]

It’s the last day of school in a lot of places around Iowa. That includes Ames.

Do you have any celebrations that you did annually as a child to celebrate the last day of school? Any time-honored shenanigans? Any good stories?

Did you live in a location where you got to see your friends during the summer, or were you maybe out in the middle of the country and didn’t get to see anybody until the first day of school the next year?

 

[throwittoblythe]

We have started a tradition of taking our kids out for ice cream after we pick them up on the last day of school.

I loved that feeling on the last day of school before summer. As an adult, I like to watch Dazed and Confused around this time to feel a little bit of that nostalgia again.

 

[JP4CY]

My mom would take me clothes shopping. New shoes, shorts, t-shirts, etc.
Timing wise it worked out well because it kind of split the year in half with getting new clothes for Christmas.
Back in those days, she kind of did a "I'll buy you two pairs of Nike Air type of shoes" a year.

 

[wxman1]

My middle school principal would play Schools Out over the speakers at the final bell. My mom worked in that school for a couple decades as well so I keep the tradition going by blaring it when picking the kids up. We do ice cream the night before the first day but I see no reason to not start doing it on the last day as well!

LM is done next Wednesday.

 

[Gonzo]

We have started a tradition of taking our kids out for ice cream after we pick them up on the last day of school.

I loved that feeling on the last day of school before summer. As an adult, I like to watch Dazed and Confused around this time to feel a little bit of that nostalgia again.

Nice, we'd take both our girls to DQ on the last day of school.

 

[cyfanatic]

Everyone would meet at the pool the next day...

CR Prairie and CR Community is not done until Thursday of next week!

 

[Angie]

We do the first day/last day photos on the front porch each and every year, and it just gets me each year. Time is a thief.

Our eldest is in her first year of high school this year, and so she's going through the stress of finals. We may have to pick up this ice cream tradition to celebrate it being over!

I took off work today to pick up our youngest at elementary. Not a ton of years of that left, so I'm going to savor.

 

[urb1]

I always took my kids to Hardees or McDonalds for breakfast on the last day of school. Now, one of my daughters always takes her kids to MacDonalds for breakfast and invites me along since they are local.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

My school system always did a fun day of some sort for the last day. Each school (elementary, intermediate, middle, and high) had a different thing they always did.

Elementary school was a field day, intermediate was a trip to the big local park and playground, middle was a "Olympics", and high school was a volunteer day (mostly trash pick up) throughout the city with graduating seniors as the main focus point.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Man, there's just something about the last day of school that hits my feelers. My school didn't do anything special but there was just something about walking those hallways on the last day of school that I just can't put into words. I can still hear and feel it. Those of us that graduated prior to 2003-2005 truly got to experience those high school years in a much more simpler time. I feel sorry for my kids that they will never get to experience that in their teen years.

 

[VeloClone]

We have started a tradition of taking our kids out for ice cream after we pick them up on the last day of school.

I loved that feeling on the last day of school before summer. As an adult, I like to watch Dazed and Confused around this time to feel a little bit of that nostalgia again.

There was a family run ice cream parlor right next to a high school, middle school and elementary school up here in the NW suburbs of the Twin Cities. It is absolutely packed on the last day of school because it is a tradition to take kids there after that last day of school. And it isn't just for kids at those three schools.

I know of more than one high schooler who has greatly improved their arm/wrist/hand strength scooping ice cream at that parlor.

 

[VeloClone]

Man, there's just something about the last day of school that hits my feelers. My school didn't do anything special but there was just something about walking those hallways on the last day of school that I just can't put into words. I can still hear and feel it. Those of us that graduated prior to 2003-2005 truly got to experience those high school years in a much more simpler time. I feel sorry for my kids that they will never get to experience that in their teen years.

I had some childhood friends who went to a small town elementary school when it was closed for good. I can only imagine how next level crazy the VERY LAST day of school was there.

 

[Cyfan1965]

 

[JP4CY]

Man, there's just something about the last day of school that hits my feelers. My school didn't do anything special but there was just something about walking those hallways on the last day of school that I just can't put into words. I can still hear and feel it. Those of us that graduated prior to 2003-2005 truly got to experience those high school years in a much more simpler time. I feel sorry for my kids that they will never get to experience that in their teen years.

Kinda wild looking back how we'd know where/when to meet up without digital communication at our finger tips.

 

[Cyfan1965]

We all knew where to go- For us in Ames it was kegs at Inis Grove Park

 

[ackatch]

I remember in elementary school always being sad because even though I grew up in Clive I rarely saw friends over the summer unless they lived in the neighborhood. I spent most of my summers growing up with my mom and grandparents. Looking back... I spent a lot of time by myself.

Highschool basically meant work all summer as much as I could. College was the same.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

Man, there's just something about the last day of school that hits my feelers. My school didn't do anything special but there was just something about walking those hallways on the last day of school that I just can't put into words. I can still hear and feel it. Those of us that graduated prior to 2003-2005 truly got to experience those high school years in a much more simpler time. I feel sorry for my kids that they will never get to experience that in their teen years.

My daughter graduated HS a few weeks ago. She had been building up her last day like something magical was gonna happen. When I got off work I asked her about it and she said, "The bell rang and we just kinda walked out and left." With seniors having block scheduling, different finals times and many going part time, there's very little fanfare since seniors leave at various times.

I had similar feelings after my last final at ISU. I stopped somewhere on the Great Lawn and did a slow panorama of the campus. It was a great, but also very empty feeling.

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

Some of us would exit the bus via the rear emergency exit when getting dropped off on the last day.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

Growing up, our bus driver would allow us to have a water gun fight on he last day of school. We had to wait until we were out of view of anyone else because he was definitely not supposed to allow that to happen, but once we got about a mile from the school, it was carnage until you got off.

I looked forward to it every year and it was one of my favorite childhood memories. RIP Frankie

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

My daughter graduated HS a few weeks ago. She had been building up her last day like something magical was gonna happen. When I got off work I asked her about it and she said, "The bell rang and we just kinda walked out and left." With seniors having block scheduling, different finals times and many going part time, there's very little fanfare since seniors leave at various times.

I had similar feelings after my last final at ISU. I stopped somewhere on the Great Lawn and did a slow panorama of the campus. It was a great, but also very empty feeling.

Yeah that pretty much encapsulates my memories of our last week/day of high school.

At Iowa State I didn't attend commencement so when I was done with my last final it was just like welp I'm done. I was definitely excited and felt a significant sense of accomplishment but it was pretty anticlimactic. With that being said, I don't have a single regret for not going through commencement.