Kindergartners celebrate end of school year with pizza and police

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — A group of kindergarten students celebrated their end-of-school-year achievements Wednesday with local officers.

A kindergarten class at Leeds Elementary School marked the occasion with a pizza party. Multiple police officers from the Sioux City Police Department came in to congratulate the students. The party was a celebration of the students scoring proficiently in the i-Ready test.

“I have very high expectations for my classroom, so for them to do so well, and for them to be celebrated I always feel like I am pushing them beyond their limits,” teacher Shari Hageman said. “I want them to be kids who do really well learning, but you also want them to be kids of character, and they have truly done that this year.”

“Our teacher gave us a party for doing good on the test,” one kid summed up.

Sioux City PD Captain Ryan Bertrand and Hageman became husband and wife this school year. He said that he has been a part of the students’ education journey as well.

“I had the chance to visit with the kids several times throughout the year and read with them, spend time with them so they kind of get to see the whole thing progress and we’ve all got to grow together kind of as an additional family,” Bertrand said. “So it’s been a fun journey, and today is about celebrating the year-end, all their hard work and getting to spend some time with them.”

The school year for the kids ends on May 23 this year.

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