Hi there, 2014-2015 School Year. It's been quite the adventure! As our time comes to a close, I wanted to thank you for everything we've shared together.
Thank you for a class of thirteen beautiful little souls. Thank you for the great depths of their kindness, the enormity of their love, and their unflinching acceptance of differences. Thank you for the brightness of so many Lights. It gives me hope for the future of our world.
Thank you for their questions and explorations. For the cacophony of block towers crashing to the floor, the puddles of paint pooling beneath the easel, the mud-covered hands that leave marks on my shirt with their hugs. It tells me that they're finding joy in learning.
Thank you, too, for their tears and shouting. For the broken toys, the pushes, the grabbing. For the conflicts and hurt feelings. They come with the hard work of making a community.
Thank you for the families who entrust me with their children. Who juggle schedules, lunch boxes, and favorite nap-time blankets. Who partner with me and shape our classroom's life. Who leave a part of their heart with me each day.
Thank you for spectacularly supportive administrators. For their willingness to advocate for the youngest members of our school and go to bat for their teachers. For welcoming my ideas and concerns, for their thoughtful and constructive feedback about my practice.
Thank you for my beautiful assistant teacher. For her unsung behind-the-scenes work that keeps our classroom running smoothly. For her openness to trying something new. For her magical abilities to help children sleep and knowing how to make chocolate materialize at exactly the right moment.
Thank you for colleagues who are truly inspiring. For their passion and expertise that motivate me to do my best every day. For their humor that brings relief, their hallway small talk that makes me feel seen, their listening that helps me feel valued. Thank you especially for my team, my school family. For their willingness to lend their ears as readily as their materials.
And thank you for my own darling daughter's teachers, my co-workers right next door. Thank you for seeing her sweetness through the crankiness, her vulnerability through the silliness. Thank you for giving the extra hug when I know you were tired, for making her feel loved when you might not have felt so loved yourself. Thank you for honoring my own fears and fragility as a mother, for supporting us both during one more hug, one more kiss, one more cuddle. She loves you dearly, and so do I.
I'm not sure how I managed to be so lucky to have this moment in time, but I do know that I am eternally grateful for it. Here's to a summer of rest and rejuvenation. And to doing it all over again, for many years to come.
Thank you for a class of thirteen beautiful little souls. Thank you for the great depths of their kindness, the enormity of their love, and their unflinching acceptance of differences. Thank you for the brightness of so many Lights. It gives me hope for the future of our world.
Thank you for their questions and explorations. For the cacophony of block towers crashing to the floor, the puddles of paint pooling beneath the easel, the mud-covered hands that leave marks on my shirt with their hugs. It tells me that they're finding joy in learning.
Thank you, too, for their tears and shouting. For the broken toys, the pushes, the grabbing. For the conflicts and hurt feelings. They come with the hard work of making a community.
Thank you for the families who entrust me with their children. Who juggle schedules, lunch boxes, and favorite nap-time blankets. Who partner with me and shape our classroom's life. Who leave a part of their heart with me each day.
Thank you for spectacularly supportive administrators. For their willingness to advocate for the youngest members of our school and go to bat for their teachers. For welcoming my ideas and concerns, for their thoughtful and constructive feedback about my practice.
Thank you for my beautiful assistant teacher. For her unsung behind-the-scenes work that keeps our classroom running smoothly. For her openness to trying something new. For her magical abilities to help children sleep and knowing how to make chocolate materialize at exactly the right moment.
Thank you for colleagues who are truly inspiring. For their passion and expertise that motivate me to do my best every day. For their humor that brings relief, their hallway small talk that makes me feel seen, their listening that helps me feel valued. Thank you especially for my team, my school family. For their willingness to lend their ears as readily as their materials.
And thank you for my own darling daughter's teachers, my co-workers right next door. Thank you for seeing her sweetness through the crankiness, her vulnerability through the silliness. Thank you for giving the extra hug when I know you were tired, for making her feel loved when you might not have felt so loved yourself. Thank you for honoring my own fears and fragility as a mother, for supporting us both during one more hug, one more kiss, one more cuddle. She loves you dearly, and so do I.
I'm not sure how I managed to be so lucky to have this moment in time, but I do know that I am eternally grateful for it. Here's to a summer of rest and rejuvenation. And to doing it all over again, for many years to come.
