Groundbreaking

Here's the Irving principal taking his turn on the jackhammer as the school hosted its ground-breaking ceremony for the new playground. It was the last day of school and the kids were so excited.

L, on the left, surprised me by being chosen as one of the kids to hold a "good-bye" sign (hers said adios) as the students sang the "good-bye blacktop" song.

Here's the "Good-bye Blacktop" song lyrics, written by Mr. W who was B's third-grade teacher:

Good bye isn’t always such a bad thing.
Losing something never has felt this good.
I don’t mean to be mean, but I’m happy to see you leave,
So I’m saying peace, you belong in the street.

Good bye black top, hello green,
No more pavement to skin my knees
I’ll have things to climb and swing
No more snow hills and bull dozing
So I’m saying peace, you belong in the street.

Hello playground, good-bye pavement
We play in a car lot that is vacant
If I fall and land head first
Now I won’t have to go to the nurse.
So I’m saying peace, you belong in the street.

Now it’s cool and safe to play at school
And we owe everything to the Irving Schoolyard team.
Adios, Arrivederci, Au revoir, Zai jian, Aloha, Shalom, Namaste,
Hasta la vista, Sayonara, Dowidzenia, Aufwiedersehen, Ciao


After the ground-breaking, Irving's teacher hit the "stage" for their traditional end-of-the-year dance. The women teachers did a dance, then the men teachers came running out dressed in all kinds of costume (we had the principal as Pac-man and a custodian as Elvis, to name a couple) and did the Harlem Shake. Here's a video a fellow mom shot. Pretty soon all the kids joined in. It was chaotic.

Here's a picture of the blacktop yesterday afternoon from our living room window. The construction fence is expected to go up soon and stay there until school starts in the fall and the new schoolyard is unveiled.