Maturation Program

Some schools do it the way we used to do it...fifth grade girls and sixth grade boys go to the Maturation Program. Some schools do it the way we're doing it now...fifth grade girls and fifth grade boys. Either way, it's the Maturation Program. Before I led the girls to the media center and the boys to the gym, someone said, "We're gonna die!"

No one died. They all came back to the classroom very much alive and mature.

One boy came up to me with his usual look, which is to say, obviously-you-want-my-input-without-asking-for-it and said, "I learned a lot. And I'm being very mature about it."

Another boy came up to me with a big yet sincere smile on his face saying, "Mrs. Kyburz, thank you for arranging that program for us (it was the school nurse, really, but he went on). I'm so glad I got to go." Then he gave me a side arm hug, which he never does, and said, "I learned so much."

I thought they might be giggly or chatty, but instead, our amazing speaker had these fellows feeling manly and responsible and in-the-know. I almost wondered if they felt relieved that someone was talking to them in very plain language about very human and normal things. I really didn't expect so much happiness afterward.

And then the normal ten year old boy question, "Can we go out to recess?"