Des Plaines Park District Creative Corners Preschool Graduates 49

The Des Plaines Park District Creative Corners Preschool graduated 49 students on Thursday, May 17 in the Prairie Lakes Theater. As the children received their diplomas, Preschool Director Margaret Nuscher announced what they want to be when they grow up.

"We have fifteen children who want to play professional sports this year, including wrestling, football, soccer, karate, and basketball,” Nuscher said. We have four prospective police officers and four who want to be doctors. Five of our graduates want to teach and two want to be nurses. The rest of the children think being an astronaut, a break dancer, a babysitter a builder, a train engineer, a mommy, an ice cream maker, a fireman, a cowgirl, a computer technician, and a princess is the perfect choice for them. Our students always amaze their parents by selecting careers from stories, visits from professionals, or simply, their imagination.”

The graduation ceremony included the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Benjamin Bukowski and Luca Burgio, carrying the flag; welcome speeches by Maddison Lahaie and Ariana Pelland; a presentation of the alphabet; songs, including “The World is a Rainbow” and “Do Re Mi;” and a farewell speech by twins Delaney and Lyra Bishopr.

“The children are ready for kindergarten,” Nuscher said. “We have traveled to outer space, explored the rain forest, turned the classroom into a pizza parlor, sailed a sailboat, pitched a tent, laughed, learned, and played.”

Eleven of the graduates will attend kindergarten at Iroquois Community School in the fall of 2012. Eight will attend Central, three will attend Forest, and two will attend Orchard Place and South. The rest will go to North and Terrace, in Des Plaines, as well as the nine children, who will go to private schools or schools outside District 62. "Beyond the scholastic training of letters and numbers, color and shapes, we teach social interaction and independence." Nuscher said. "Today, very few children attend kindergarten without some kind of preschool foundation, and our job is to give then a good start and teach them to love school," she said.

For more information on The Des Plaines Park district Early Education Classes, call 847-391-5700 or visit www.DPParks.org.