Yariela Pimentel Lodge celebrated completing kindergarten June 17.
Three days later, she was in Costa Rica, putting what she learned to the test.
Yariela is a member of the Poughkeepsie City School District’s dual language program. As kindergarteners throughout the Early Learning Center celebrated advancing to the first grade in ceremonies held last week, the program’s progress was among the accomplishments highlighted.
“She loves being immersed in the language,” Yariela’s mother, Victoria Lodge, said, noting she has family in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Panama. “It’s great that she’s able to have that during and through the school year, as well as at home.”
At the three moving up ceremonies held at Poughkeepsie Middle School, Early Learning Center Principal Nadine Elting-Dargan spoke not only of a future in which Poughkeepsie graduates a bilingual class, but also future educational milestones for each young scholar.
“I want to remind you that this is the first” graduation ceremony for the students. “I encourage you to continually talk to them about the last,” she said. “As parents, it is our responsibility to ensure our children are prepared for the future. Their future is just beginning. Right now, what we do today, determines what happens in the future.”
Jenniesha White agreed it’s an important lesson for her daughter, Elea’leigh White, and her classmates to remember. They were announced at the end of the ceremony as Poughkeepsie High School’s Class of 2036.
“As they get older they have to push forward to graduate,” she said, “and I feel like they all can do it.”
After entering the auditorium as “Pomp and Circumstance” played, the students took to the stage and sang three pop songs in which the words were changed to match their accomplishment. Then, each student’s name was called and they took turns standing and waving to their family and friends. Afterward, the students were invited to pose for photos in yellow caps and gowns provided by the ELC’s PTA and the Community Schools Department.
Taina Mercado said it was “really emotional” watching her daughter, Ava Rayford, on stage.
“She’s my youngest,” Mercado said. “Just seeing her graduate and going to first grade – it’s exciting seeing them grow.”
Elting-Dargan emphasized their growth in addressing parents, encouraging them to exercise their child’s abilities and knowledge during the long summer months.
“Don’t doubt what they can do. Let them show you what they can do,” she said. “Many of our children are reading. Opening a book and reading. Have them practice their name, practice writing numbers to 100. The more you do with them over the summer the more they’ll be prepared for first grade.”
The dual language learners were each being sent home with a book in English and Spanish to practice each day.
“Encourage them to speak Spanish to you. You speak Spanish to them. Anyone you know who can speak Spanish to them or English on the other side, make sure you practice with them,” Elting-Dargan said. “By the sixth grade, the goal for the Poughkeepsie City School District is that we can graduate a class of bilingual students.”
For Yariela – who said she liked reading best in kindergarten and planned “to party” after her ceremony – that Spanish language practice before she arrives at Krieger Elementary in the fall will come with family and friends in Costa Rica.
“When she goes there she gets to go to school there, and she loves that,” her mother said. “I’m super excited about what the future holds for her.”
