School's out!

...for summer!! (belt it out just like Alice Cooper did!!)

I'm so thankful this year is over. I had a really crappy dummer last year and am looking forward to an amazing one this year. Well, no matter what, it HAS to be better than last year.

Yesterday was commencement. I love watching these young people walk across the stage in their suits, dresses and gowns. Unfortunately we don't order the caps, but that's probably because the kids would steal them. When I graduated high school we had the option of buying them, but I guess the kids just don't want to wear them anymore.

I had the honour of reading names for the students as they received their diplomas. I volunteered to do this because this was the group of kids that started grade 9 at the same time that I started teaching at the school. I have taugh many of these guys for 4 years, sometimes even 5 or 6 times, depending on the course. I was so nervous about reading the names because even though I taught many of them, I rarely paid much attention to the correct pronunciation of their last names!

But, it went perfectly and I didn't feel nervous once I got up there. The fact that when I was introduced and there was a loud cheer and a "We love you Ms. T!" shouted from the audience sure helped. It was really nice to be able to give them a reassuring smile, or share a laugh before they took their journey across the stage. There really is value to this rite of passage, and I hope they all realized the bigs steps that they were taking.

Oh, sure there was the normal goofiness that goes one. Cheers, whistles and hand gestures that we have no idea and aren't meant to have any idea about their meaning.

The valedictorian address brought tears to my eyes. She spoke so eloquently, and touched upon many events in their high school years.

Many of my students are moving away for university, which I certainly encouraged them to do if they could afford it. Hopefully they will come back to visit, because as much as they made me want to tear my hair out, they are all good kids and I will miss them.