It’s the beginning of summer break, the end of our decade at Crocker Highlands Elementary School, the beginning of Kuno’s time at Edna Brewer Middle School, the end of Jin’s time at Brewer, and the beginning of his at Oakland High School.

Melancholy to be ending our time at Crocker. It’s been a great school for the kids, and a place where I’ve met a bunch of really nice people. We’ve lived in our house for 24 years, but it wasn’t until the kids started at Crocker that I started to just recognize folks from around the neighborhood. It’s weird to think also that families enter and exit this phase of their life every year, and while it’s the end for us, it’s not a transitory moment for most folks.

But both Crocker and Brewer have been great for our family. I think Kuno’s found more of a community earlier, and that COVID disrupted what would have been a pivotal year for Jin, but he’s also found his community among the folks at Brewer, and made good friends over the last year. I’m excited to see what both kids do in the next phase, and am super proud of what they’ve accomplished so far.

Kuno’s blossomed into a crazy artist – constantly making up new characters and doodles and seems to have gotten a lot of acclaim for it from his peers. Jin’s been really mastering animation in Scratch, and recently one of his animations was featured on the front page of scratch.mit.edu. I’m super proud of them both. What a bunch of weirdos.