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malibusurfsidenews.com News<br />
Malibu surfside news | June 14, 2018 | 3<br />
A celebration for one, all<br />
Sycamore School<br />
community comes<br />
together to honor<br />
its lone graduate<br />
Michele Willer-Allred<br />
Freelance Reporter<br />
Thursday, June 7, was<br />
a special day for 10-yearold<br />
Eden Meyers, and for<br />
her school, the Sycamore<br />
School in Malibu.<br />
That day, the independent<br />
elementary school,<br />
which opened in 2015 to<br />
kindergarten through fifthgrade<br />
students, was graduating<br />
its first class.<br />
Meyers, of Malibu,<br />
was not only part of that<br />
first fifth-grade graduating<br />
class, but also the only<br />
graduate in it.<br />
And, the school pulled<br />
out all the stops to make<br />
sure it was a day Meyers,<br />
as well as the school’s<br />
other 40 students, would<br />
remember.<br />
A graduation ceremony<br />
just for Meyers was held<br />
outside at the school under<br />
a canopy of sycamore and<br />
oak trees. The ceremony<br />
included several speakers<br />
who had messages for<br />
Meyers.<br />
“What a monumental,<br />
symbolic moment this is<br />
— not only for you, but<br />
all of us,” said Christy<br />
Durham, who founded the<br />
school along with Tedd<br />
Wakeman and AJ Webster.<br />
“To know that we have our<br />
first graduate is just amazing,<br />
and we’re so proud of<br />
you.”<br />
Kylie Walker, an educator<br />
at the school, described<br />
Meyers as organized, hard<br />
working and able to take<br />
challenges head on, all<br />
while having a positive attitude.<br />
“Those are the things<br />
that let me know that wherever<br />
she goes or whatever<br />
job she works in, she’s going<br />
to be very successful,”<br />
Walker said.<br />
Webster also had a message<br />
for all the students that<br />
attended the ceremony.<br />
“Do what you care<br />
about, and care about it<br />
deeply,” Webster said.<br />
“Live with passion. Don’t<br />
just float through life not<br />
giving your all to something<br />
that matters to you.”<br />
Eden Meyers, wearing<br />
a floral dress and a wreath<br />
of flowers in her hair, then<br />
gave her own speech.<br />
“The No. 1 thing I’m really<br />
going to miss is all of<br />
you, everyone, the whole<br />
shebang, the Sycamore<br />
community,” Meyers said<br />
with tears in her eyes. “Everyday<br />
I’ve been here, I<br />
walk into school knowing<br />
I will be accepted for who<br />
I am. Boy, am I going to<br />
miss you guys.”<br />
Afterwards, Meyers<br />
walked along a path filled<br />
with staff, her family, and<br />
her classmates, and gave<br />
high-fives and hugs to<br />
each.<br />
The group then watched<br />
a video featuring highlights<br />
of the school year.<br />
Attending the graduation<br />
were friends and numerous<br />
family members,<br />
including Meyers’ mother,<br />
Shannon Meyers, and her<br />
father, Don Meyers.<br />
Shannon recalled bringing<br />
her daughter to the<br />
school two years ago, and<br />
said it was a good fit from<br />
the start, and that she blossomed<br />
at the school.<br />
Eden Meyers (right) and her mom, Shannon Meyers,<br />
share a moment at the ceremony.<br />
Her grandparents, Cheryl<br />
and Mike Schenck,<br />
traveled from their home<br />
in Kauai to see Meyers<br />
graduate, and presented<br />
their granddaughter with<br />
numerous flower leis,<br />
which they said represent<br />
“a blessing, congratulations<br />
and love.”<br />
Meyers plans on attending<br />
middle school at Topanga<br />
Mountain School,<br />
and has aspirations of becoming<br />
an actress.<br />
“I’m so happy for her,<br />
but so sad too because<br />
she’s my best friend,” said<br />
classmate Emme Marler,<br />
9.<br />
Marler said that while<br />
she’ll miss her friend at<br />
school, she plans to see her<br />
over summer vacation.<br />
Marler said she was also<br />
excited about leaving third<br />
grade behind and starting<br />
fourth grade.<br />
“I feel ready and confident,”<br />
said Marler, who<br />
also said she is considering<br />
going into acting.<br />
The Sycamore School,<br />
located on Las Flores<br />
Canyon Road, is dedicated<br />
to collaboration,<br />
innovation and creativity.<br />
Some of the highlights of<br />
the school year included<br />
students becoming architects<br />
and creating threedimensional<br />
models of<br />
their own make-believe<br />
restaurants, designing and<br />
creating ideas for their<br />
own cereal companies,<br />
and planting their own<br />
gardens and showing what<br />
Malibu Urgent Care<br />
they learned at a local<br />
farmer’s market.<br />
Wakeman said the<br />
school has doubled in size<br />
since it first opened.<br />
“It’s been an amazing<br />
three years,” Wakeman said.<br />
Newand Improved!<br />
State-of-the-Art Trauma Room<br />
Please visit FriendsofMUC.org,<br />
or send donations to:<br />
Sycamore School teacher Kylie Walker (left) gets a<br />
hug from eighth-grade graduate Eden Meyers at the<br />
Thursday, June 7 ceremony in Malibu.<br />
Photos by Suzy Demeter/22nd Century Media<br />
Friends of Malibu Urgent Care,<br />
POB 6836, Malibu, CA, 90265
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