At 5 years old, John Paul Abides has just graduated.

But instead of walking somberly down a line of equally somber professors to receive a diploma, John Paul weaved his way between fellow students sitting cross-legged on the floor, clad in bright pink or blue shirts and wearing construction-paper graduation caps, to receive a booklet with his picture and hand prints decorating the front.

John Paul, along with 75 other Oak Harbor ECEAP students, graduated from preschool on Friday, May 20.

“It’s my first graduation,” John Paul said.

Kathleen Couture, education coordinator for Whidbey Island Early Childhood and Education Assistance Program (ECEAP), said island-wide ECEAP had 106 children graduate in the program’s end-of-the-year ceremonies, which took place in Oak Harbor, Coupeville and South Whidbey.

“Most of them are moving on to kindergarten,” Couture said.

ECEAP, as a state-funded program, is designed to help children and their parents prepare for school success through education, health, nutrition, family support and parental involvement. 

As part of school success and preparation for greater things, Couture added that ECEAP staff feel it is important to have an end-of-the-year celebration to recognize each child and all the work they have put forth throughout the year.

“Preschoolers really get this closure to their school year,” she said. “and families make it special.”

Oak Harbor resident Molly Duggins said her daughter, 5-year-old Alexis Spangler, wanted her preschool graduation to be a special event for her and her mother, and even convinced her mother to get a babysitter for her younger sister.

“She was crazy about it,” Duggins said. “She loves ECEAP.”

Duggins said she has appreciated the Oak Harbor ECEAP program and teachers and said she likes ECEAP preschool better than any of the other programs she has seen.

Another preschool mother, Amme Collis, said her daughter, Zoe Collis, 4, has thrived in the ECEAP program.

“I rave about this program – all the techniques, the parent/child interaction in the classroom,” she said.

Couture said parent/teacher efforts and help from the community made this graduation possible. She said ECEAP usually has graduation at the beach, but this year because of the weather, staff decided to have it inside.

She said thanks to the Elks Lodge they got to have this year’s graduation in a spacious hall at no cost. And with parents’ help, each child received a T-shirt, art set and cookbook, and everyone enjoyed a potluck luncheon.

“It’s really been a graduation day,” she said.

After participating in the graduation festivities, preschoolers ran around, catching balloons and each other while their families mingled.

When asked if he ever wanted to graduate again, John Paul smiled, tilted his head, shrugged his small shoulders and said, “Maybe.”