Caps, gowns and elation: St. Jude hosts heartwarming kindergarten graduation

Eri’Elle, carrying a gray stuffed elephant gifted to her by her best friend, beamed as she walked up on the stage to get her diploma. 

The 6-year-old, sporting a pink tassel and blue nails, then turned around and smiled with her kindergarten diploma in hand. She stood underneath a large screen featuring her photo, which was accompanied by words that read that she enjoyed science activities in kindergarten, and that when she grows up, she wants to be a doctor at St. Jude. 

“She was looking in the crowd for me, and I was waving, and she was smiling,” recalled Eri’Elle’s mom, Angel. “You just saw the joy in her face, a genuine joy.” 

Eri’Elle had not only learned to add numbers and begun to read books in kindergarten, but she had also been able to keep up with her other subjects while in treatment. Eri’Elle was 2 years old when she was referred to St. Jude after she was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive malignant rhabdoid tumor on her spine. She went several months without walking, so when she started taking steps again during initial treatment, it was among the happiest moments for her mom. Seeing Eri’Elle receive her kindergarten diploma, even after a relapse in 2024 and months of being away from her Louisiana school to receive treatment, also meant the world to Angel.  

The St. Jude school program, known as St. Jude Imagine Academy by Chili’s, helped keep Eri’Elle on track with her peers back home, her mom said. 

“It was just a big achievement in our eyes, she has gone through so much,” Angel said. “It was just amazing to see her walk and graduate. She was pulled out of school for treatment, and I thought she was going to fall behind … but with Imagine Academy and her teacher, they made sure that they kept in touch with the school and made sure that they kept her up on things that they were learning at her school at home.”

Eri’Elle had a small cheering team attend, including her aunt, little brother and best friend, who clapped fervently when her name was called, unable to contain their excitement for the milestone.

“This was one of the best graduations I’ve been to,” Angel said. “St. Jude puts so much into making these children feel so wonderful on their day.”  

Caleb and his family are celebrating two milestones: Not only did Caleb finish kindergarten, but the 6-year-old, who was treated for cancer as a baby, also will start checkups this year at the After Completion of Therapy (ACT) Clinic at St. Jude. The ACT clinic provides follow-up care and health counseling for long-term childhood cancer survivors who were treated at St. Jude. 

“It’s kind of cool that he’s graduating kindergarten, and we graduated from our clinic and he’s happy and healthy. So, it was a really special milestone,” his mom, Lauren, said.  

Caleb was 3 months old when he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancer of certain types of nerve tissue and the most common solid tumor found outside the brain in children. He finished treatment and has been doing well, his mom said. 

“His first year of life was spent at St. Jude,” his mom said. “His first Christmas was spent in the hospital. First Mother’s Day, first Father’s Day, a lot of holidays were spent there. So, each milestone has been that much more special to us. The kindergarten graduation was just perfect.”  

Caleb enjoys math and science, and likes to learn how things work, his mom said proudly. In kindergarten, he learned how plants grow and about insects and space. For his end of school year project, Caleb made a presentation on the life cycle of plants. 

“This child never ceases to amaze us,” his mom said.  

Caleb’s school in Missouri didn’t have a kindergarten graduation, so the St. Jude ceremony was extra special. His maternal and paternal grandparents and one of his aunts made the trip to the graduation. 

“He was smiling and waving at his family that was there, and it was so sweet. And when they called his name, he was such a big boy and walked right up on the stage, got his certificate and smiled real big,” she said.  

Yara has always been a confident child, but attending kindergarten has helped boost that confidence, her mom, Brittany said. She’s reading and writing and enjoys adding numbers. She also likes dancing, and she participated in her hometown school’s Christmas play as a member of the choir. 

“She has really enjoyed school this year,” Brittany said.  

Brittany didn’t know how her youngest daughter’s kindergarten school year was going to go. When she was just 3 years old, Yara was diagnosed with SAMD9L syndrome at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®. This rare condition, along with the similar SAMD9 syndrome, affects the bone marrow’s ability to produce healthy cells. Yara’s doctors realized viruses induced her cytopenia — low levels of red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets. Infections such as RSV, rhinoviruses (cause of the common cold) or influenza would trigger episodes during which she lost healthy stem cells.

 Yara was hospitalized twice during kindergarten. With the help of her teachers, she was able to keep up with her studies, her mom said. 

On graduation day, Yara was excited. The little girl had two graduations on the same day. One in the morning at her school in Tennessee, and then in the afternoon at St. Jude.

 “Yara’s kindergarten experience was really no different than my other kids,” Brittany said. “Any time we needed St. Jude, we could go to St. Jude, get what we needed, and then she was back to regular life. So, it was good for her to enjoy a normal year of kindergarten.”