As the girls patiently filed into the cafeteria one behind the other, their eyes lit up at the sight of what awaited them.
Seated around beautifully decorated tables that had a pearl necklace and pair of white satin gloves at every other seat were the girls' mothers, friends and other women in the community.
The elaborate event the girls were set to enjoy was 'Strands on the Beech,' a program Beech Hill Elementary School held to provide its 81 fifth-grade girls with memories and lessons that principal Rene Harris hoped would last a lifetime.
'The girls will go through so many challenges from this point on and we want them to feel good about themselves,' Harris said. 'I hope this teaches them that there are no walls or ceilings that limit what they can accomplish.'
As the girls found their seats, exchanged pleasantries with their mentors and examined the neatly arranged gifts, young ladies in the Rollings Middle School of the Arts String Core delighted everyone with a series of songs.
Each of the soon-to-be middle school students wore party dresses and displayed manners that they had learned in an etiquette course just days earlier.
At the beginning of the celebration, as the girls treated themselves to pastries at the back of the cafeteria, each of their mentors wrote a pearl of wisdom on a card, which they gave to the girls when they returned to their seats.
'I think I'm going to tell the girls to set goals and dreams and to follow them no matter what people tell you that you can or cannot do,' said State Rep. Jenny Horne, one of the women in attendance.
After some of the women shared personal stories of overcoming obstacles and being true to themselves, each of the women placed a pearl necklace around the necks of the girls.
The necklaces had four large pearls – one for each of the school's lighthouses of learning: nurture, connect, create and dream.
Two months ago, Beech Hill held its 'Tied for Brightness' celebration for fifth-grade boys. At the event, the boys' fathers and members of the community presented the students with neckties and taught them how to properly tie a tie.
Beech Hill student Sarah Reid said that despite being in elementary school for only a few more weeks, she would not soon forget 'Strands on the Beech' or the Beech Hill community.
'This is a really special event and I know the school put so much effort into this,' Reid said. 'Everybody at the school always warms me up if I'm sad and it's just a really nice place.'


Contact Michael Tannebaum at 873-9424 ext. 215 or mtannebaum@journalscene.com