Farewells!!

I went to a retirement party last night for a colleague who is retiring from teaching after 33 years. It was fun reliving some of those memories and laughing together. And visiting with friends with whom I haven't been in touch with lately. I will be attending another one tomorrow. The three of us all began teaching in the same district in the same calendar year. There were different assignments in different buildings over the different years.



This afternoon, while out doing errands, Flo, Nic, and I stopped at a local ice cream stand for a cone. One of my former 5th grade students waited on me. She is graduating this year[ from high school ] and going to college in the fall to study...what?? Elementary education!! And so the cycle goes on. So I relayed my personal best wishes along with my strong belief that she will need to remember that her students are people...little people...and that they grow up!! And she will see them later on in life as adults. And that, 'Nice Matters.' Going both ways.



I used to tell my son that for every kid that I ran into...that there was a story that would come to mind. After saying hello and catching up on what they were doing in life [when I later ran into a former student], m y son would say, "So, what's the story?" Without names, here are a few of those memories:

A 3rd grader swallowed a fly [ upon inhaling]when her nose was all stuffed up from a cold. Boy...did her eyes scream PANIC!

There was a shy 1st grader who got upset when it would rain. The sound of the rain pounding on the skylight would make her cry. She is now a state trooper!!

The kindergartener who brought his mom's birth control pills to school for 'show and tell.' I had to call her and say, "I think that you might want to stop into school and pick up your medicine!" "Medicine? What medicine? "Oh my God!!"

Another shared with the class that she was adopted. Her mother later called and told me that not many people knew that! [Did I know that?]

The little boy who participated in the vocabulary discussion about the word 'fatal' with, "You mean like fatal attraction?"

The little devil who missed the bus on purpose [I'm pretty sure] so that I could see the nine new puppies that his dog had produced...And yes...I did adopt one!!



What entertainment!! And then there's the stories of blooper-like teacher happenings!

Maybe another post on another day.

TTFN