December in Costa Rica is not just for tamales, family get-togethers, loud fireworks displays, the annual Gordo lottery drawing, and skinny, sunburnt Santas. It is also the end of the school year. It is also graduation time. There is, it sometimes seems, a graduation ceremony for every grade level.
This past Wednesday I walked for an hour in my barrio and heard recordings of the Himno Nacional of Costa Rica coming from 3 different locations– the local high school, and two grade schools. Large crowds had gathered to mark the ending of a school year and the celebration of another year’s academic advancement.
The day before, I watched a bit of another ceremony. My wife is a kindergarten teacher at a public school. For the year end ‘graduation’, all of the kindergarten and pre-kinder kids wore robes and mortarboard hats. This is not uncommon here. I am not quite sure what to make of dressing the little children up in attire usually reserved for higher education.
On the one hand, it is a celebration of education, of advancement. It makes a nice photo-op and rewards those who finished the school year successfully. On the other hand, as virtually everyone finishes the year, it is a kind of participation trophy.
Don’t get me wrong– I love the emphasis Costa Rica puts on getting its people educated in the basics. There are grade schools in some of the most remote regions of the country. Last year, my wife worked as a substitute and was sometimes assigned to schools in rural areas of the Zona Sur. We would drive kilometers along unpaved roads, wondering if the directions were correct.
Then we would see a cluster of buildings in the distance – and then see the school, and the flag, and the soccer field, and the church, and the pulperia, and the place to get a beer, and know we had reached the distant village where she was assigned for the next month.
The 6th graders also typically wear the cap and gown upon their graduation. At one time the sixth grade was the end of the line for most rural Ticos. Agriculture was still king and kids postponed further education and got work on farms or in the fields to help out their families. As junior high and high schools are not as accessible as the grade schools, distance and transportation were also issues. Some later go on to the night high schools which cater to young adults returning to complete their high school education.
While some graduation ceremonies are held within the school, others are held in public places such as town salons, restaurants or even nightclubs. Both my youngest daughter and stepson went to the same high school and had their ceremonies at the same dancehall/nightclub.
I don’t know how many graduation ceremonies include a cash bar, but both I attended featured this excellent amenity. As there is always a parade of teachers, principals and administrators each taking a turn at the microphone and trying to outdo each other with speechifying, the entire ritual can be lengthy. The later handing out of diplomas is accompanied by an endless loop playing Pomp and Circumstance or some similar light march, and it can get annoying after a time.
All things considered, it seems logical that a few adult beverages are an option, indeed a requirement. I know at both graduations I attended, I was far from alone in making periodic trips to the bar.
So, congratulations to the Class of 2023, whatever your grade level, and we’ll welcome most of you back in February.
