One of the perks that I enjoyed as a teacher was the definite beginning and ending of each school year. I loved the new promise of setting up my classroom in the fall and I adored the ability on the last days of the year to look back and see what the students and I had accomplished together. This past weekend I had the privilege of sharing the joy of school ending once more, with three former students as they celebrated their high school graduations.
I knew these three as fifth graders – we spent a year together with our noses in books and pencils in our hands. We slogged through lessons in long division, reading comprehension, and writing essays and we had fun exploring the science of potatoes, learning about colonial children by churning butter, playing jacks, and walking on stilts. We even took time out to fight a reenacted Revolutionary War battle. While we tried to reach prescribed learning goals so that the state proficiency gods would be satisfied, it was also clear to me that these three and their classmates were going to offer our world something more precious than the stats could convey. (Serious and studious Elizabeth had set a goal {that she reached!} for herself to read every single Nancy Drew book…Haley was learning about hard work and how to shine both in choir and on a gymnastics mat…Carter was learning that doing the right thing was more important than being toughest or most popular.) Now, seven years after they left my class, I know for sure that the world is a better place because of them and I can’t wait to see what they accomplish next! We had a lot of fun together that year, and to be invited to celebrate their graduations with them was such a gift!
Here’s to all this year’s grads, with special hugs and prayers for Elizabeth, Haley, and Carter!
