Pentathlon

Santiago's Fifth Grade Pentathlon day finally came.  We waited all year long.  For the children of 5th grade in Waldorf Schools, this is the culmination of the study of Ancient Civilizations, in particular Greece.  This is an annual event that brings together Waldorf Schools throughout Northern California.  An our school is the host!  The children participated in 5 events:  Javelin, Discus, Long Run and a Dash.

The students do not compete as schools, they are individually sorted into ancient Greek City States:
Athens, Sparta, Corinth or Thebes.  Santiago was Thebes.  He found Erick, his friend from Kindergarten from Sacramento Waldorf School and they were both in the same city state, wearing the same blue t-shirt.  They have remained friends throughout the years and it was very special to see them together on this too.

The campus looked amazing!!!I was stroked by the atmosphere of reverence and several times had to hold back my tears to see how many people care so deeply about the development of this young children.  Everything was in perfect order, so many parents, teachers and even parents of alumni, and alumni.  We all came together to make this day special for the fifth graders.

Mr Bowen did an amazing job at preparing the children for this event.  Not only intellectually through the stories told during main lesson and all the activities around that.

He prepared them emotionally, stepping back and allowing them to truly penetrate each of the events.  Honoring their individual soul experience as they approached each event.

The interest was more on the performance rather than being obsessed with victory.

 I have to admit though, even though I do not consider myself a highly competitive person, I was getting a little sad for Santiago towards the end. 

 He did not have a laurel wreath for a while. 

I could feel myself getting more and  more worried about how he would feel if all of his friends had a wreath and he didn't.  I had to sit with this for a while and finally I talked myself out of it soon.

I realized the he knows how well he's worked and how much he has learned from it and that is what is important.

 At the beginning of the year he did not know how to do any of this and now, he can do it all.  Yes, there are others who can run faster, throw farther, etc...but what truly matters is that he is better than where he was at the beginning of the year.

Isn't that a life lesson? 

 I wish I had learned this at his age. What truly matters is what we learn as we go along thru life.  Yes, there will always be other people who can do things better than us, who can accumulate more wealth or friendships than us, but what truly matters is our progress, who we are, what we have accomplish and how we relate to it.  And how we can transform ourselves, even if we loose it all.

 It was so sweet, his friend Reed saw me at some point during the day and he said to me:  I already have one wreath and if I win another one and Santiago doesn't have one, I will give it to him.  That's just amazing, to hear and to realize that this kids are so well rounded, so compassionate!

Javelin was the last event of the day and boy is Santiago good for it.  He made it!! Him and his friend Erick both got a wreath for it and it made us all so happy.  

Here he is with his fabulous teacher the one who gives so much of himself to his students.  Such an incredible human being!

And with his number one fan, his cheerleader, the one who loves him from here to the moon and back a million one hundred infinity times!!

And his sweet brother Daniel who can't help but drool over his every move and wishes he could be just like him!

And with his dad who worked so hard to get the stage all ready for the day of Pentathlon.  He was very present for him and stayed for the whole day watching him compete.