Fifth Graders Faced Challenging Year with Hope and Perseverance

Hope has been an enduring theme in the Lower School this year, and no class embodied hope more than this year’s OES fifth graders. With all of the changes to school life that came with their final year in Lower School, fifth graders faced the challenges head-on with optimism and joy.

“It seems only fitting that after a year unlike any other in the 151-year history of Oregon Episcopal School that fifth grade promotion should be unlike any other, as well,” Head of Lower School David Lowell said.

During yesterday’s promotion ceremony outside on the athletic field, Lowell spoke of how the fifth graders recently released their end-of-year movies and how each student rose to the challenges they faced this school year.

“While every movie contained its own wonderful cast of characters, unique settings, and sense of humor and suspense, each also contained a mystery to be solved, a challenge to overcome, and in the end, overcome they did,” Lowell said. “Many challenges await these fifth graders when they step into Middle School and beyond, but I believe with their renewed sense of hope, creative problem-solving, and perseverance they are ready to rise to the challenge.

“May you fifth graders find that you have become more like the people you want to be, are called to be, and hope to be because of the challenges you have overcome during this pandemic and the hope you have offered each other and us all,” Lowell concluded. “I wish you all the best in Middle School and the years beyond.”

Congratulations, fifth graders!

^{More photos from the ceremony will be sent to fifth-grade families next week.}