Last Day of School

Warning: Long post, may contain memories of my last day as a first year teacher!

Wow-schools out! My last day was pretty eventful...I definitely want to remember it forever. First off, I didn't have any classes to teach Friday (3rd and 7th were taking exams, and those are my conference periods), so I got to show up a little later than usual. On my way to work, I got a flat tire {bummer}, but luckily it didn't happen on the freeway and a nice pedestrian walking to work stopped to help me. Chris came to my rescue and traded me cars so that I didn't have to drive 55mph on the freeway.

When I finally made it to school, I had a senior meeting to attend. I got a free water bottle {score, free stuff!}. Afterwards, I only had two more items to cross off my checklist we had to turn in: keys and final okay with Mr. Chapman, the principal. My personal mental checklist consisted of: thank you notes, resignation letters, school checklist, and my 7th grade girls. I wrote a thank you note to several teachers that helped me along the way.

Coach Borth:
This guy has been coaching for over 50 years! He has such a wonderful sense of humor. The students all respect him (could be fear...). I have learned so much from his hardwork ethic and his organization. Coach Borth has a network of friends that extends across the state of Texas...he is a great example.

Coach Luna:
She truly has become my best friend at school. I don't know wht I would have done without her. Any complaints I had, she listened; any questions, she answered; any advice needed, she offered; a good shoulder to lean on, she provided. I am really going to miss her, but we will stay in touch.

Mr. Wiede:
He was sucha kind person to me everyday of the week. Mr. Wiede always said hello, asked how I was doing, and waited for me to share my response. He also was in every special ed meeting I went to and showed great love for each student...I tried to emulate his example.

Mrs. Nixon, Mr. Chapman, and Coach Johnson:
Each one was someone I could turn to for advice and ideas. The VP, principal, and athletic director all were awesome people that I had the pleasure of knowing. Mrs. Nixon was my mentor, gave me new ideas, and always told me what a wonderful teacher I am. Mr. Chapman sang happy birthday to every student in the cafeteria, always had a smile on his face, and had an awesome sense of humor. Coach Johnson was such a leader. he was one of my biggest fans when it came to coaching.

I turned in my letters of resignation and each person expressed how much they'd miss me. My letter brought tears to Mrs. Nixon and Coach Johnson. I finally turned in my keys, gave hugs to Ms. George (my lunch buddy), Mrs. Cantu (the attendance clerk), and Mrs. Meadows (the secretary). My last item on the school checklist was to have Mr. Chapman sign off. He was in the cafeteria.

When I got to the cafeteria, the 7th graders were eating lunch. One after another the girls ran up to hug me. I kid you not...at least 30 girls waiting for a hug. Several girls cried {almost made me cry...I was trying to hold back the tears}. I signed t-shirts and papers; assured them I would be back to watch some of their games; and hugged on as many as I could. I am going to miss my girls. They were such a special group of girls with so-o much talent. I just told them Thursday I was leaving {they were mad b/c it wasn't enough time to make me a gift}, but at lunch one of them gave my a frito. Desney {the one who gave me a frito} said: Are you leaving b/c we serve fritos for lunch?! We'll start serving Pringles, I promise. Silly girl. Another one handed me her bottle cap and told me I better not throw it away.

Oh, I am going to miss Jourdanton. Such wonderful memories, there will never be a first year of teaching again. This was my first...and was such an awesome way to start my teaching career. I have met wonderful people and learned some valuable lessons. I will miss you all!