T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS — Two friends embrace on the steps of Woodbury Elementary as the last bell of the 2018-19 school year rings in the background Friday.

With the close of last week came the end of the school year for Marshalltown students, and some Woodbury Elementary students reflected on what they learned and looked forward to summer.

“My favorite was probably my teachers teaching me and helping me,” said Jezell Ruiz, who officially left fourth grade last week and will be starting life at Lenihan Intermediate in August.

She said her teachers had a big impact on her while at Woodbury.

“I feel prepared because of my teachers,” she said.

Jezell’s summer will be one of travel.

“I’m going to go to Los Angeles in California,” she said. “It’s to visit family. It will be this month.”

Fellow soon-to-be fifth grader Steven Ibarra said he particularly enjoyed a field trip he and his peers took this school year.

“My favorite part of the school year was when we went to Living History Farms, how they used to live and how they built their farms and houses,” he said.

Steven said he has many plans for the summer.

“I’m planning to go to Adventureland, probably leave the country and go to the pool,” he said.

Steven said he will visit Mexico this summer and is excited.

Unlike Steven and Jezell, first grader-going-second grader Jayleen Burr has more years to look forward to at Woodbury. The elementary school is one of only a handful of schools in Iowa with a dual-language program, and students learn in both English and Spanish every day.

“I learned a lot this year. Actually, I was born speaking Spanish, then when I was getting to be 3 years old I was going more English,” Jayleen said.

She said she was able to get better in both languages this school year. The last day of school also brought its joys.

“My favorite part was today. It was field day,” Jayleen said with a smile.

For summer, she said she plans to spend a lot of time in her family’s pool.

Thousands of students will embark on adventures in the next few months, whether that means traveling, hanging out around Central Iowa, working and more. There are also several summer programs for students, including the free summer meals program and Bobcat University.

The 2019-20 school year is set to start Aug. 26.

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Contact Adam Sodders at

641-753-6611 or

asodders@timesrepublican.com