Annandale seniors visit Columbia ES, where their education began
Students at Columbia Elementary School in Annandale lined the hallways, cheering and high-fiving as dozens of high school seniors walked by in caps and gowns for the annual graduation walk, where their K-12 journey started.
Nearly all of the high school students on the June 5 grad walk went on to Annandale High School, but there were a few from other high schools, including Thomas Jefferson, Woodson, Hayfield, and Bishop O’Connell.
The students reminisced about their experiences at Columbia, and some of them reconnected with favorite teachers from long ago.
Columbia was “awesome,” said Elizabeth, who will graduate from Annandale on June 8. “It was not too big, so you knew everyone. It was really fun.”
Her favorite activities were recess and the annual “cabaret,” featuring a song showcase in third grade, “Peter Pan” in grade 4, and “Singing in the Rain” in grade 5.
In the fall, Elizabeth will start a new chapter at Virginia Tech, where she’ll be majoring in finance.
Annandale senior Harper Chapman also enjoyed the musicals at Columbia and has fond memories of music teacher Ms. Kay. She will study economics and law at Fordham University in New York City.
“Columbia has a special place in my heart,” said Nathaniel Gosen, an International Baccalaureate candidate at Annandale High School.
“It was an awesome school with a close community,” said Gosen, who is still friends with people he met at Columbia. His favorite activity was choir, and he rattled off the names of several of his favorite teachers, including Ms. Kay, Ms. Mihalick, Ms. Jones, and Ms. Choi.
After spending the summer on the Forest Hollow swim team, Nathaniel will head off to study engineering at Virginia Tech.
Former Columbia student and now principal of the school, Mike Astudillo, graduated from Annandale High School in 1995. Columbia had an exemplary principal when Astudillo was a student there in the 1980s.
“Mark Summers was kind, compassionate, and patient. He never got upset,”Astudillo said. “That’s the kind of principal I want to be. He inspired me to become a principal.”
Several other elementary schools in the Mason District/Annandale area invited high school seniors to come back for a grad walk, including Canterbury Woods, Beech Tree, Belvedere, Bren Mar Park, Wakefield Forest, Woodburn, and Mason Crest.