We have a tradition at the school I teach. On the last day of school all 6th and 7th graders are dismissed first and then all of the teachers line-up outside of one door and wait for the 8th graders to come out. As they come out, many of the young ladies and some of the young men cry, as the teachers all clap and many of us give them hugs of admiration and good-bye. Watching the emotional throngs of students really gets to you sometimes.
It starts the last week of school as many of our students whom will go to at least 3 different public high schools and who knows how many private schools, begin to realize that many of their classmates that they've spent the past 3-9 years with, are going to different places. I think deep inside they also realize they're about to go into a new dimension (high school) of life and that there innocent days of life are beginning to end.
This year it started with the 8th grade dance and graduation. As the time neared for it to end, the tears started flowing. This was 3 full days before school ended. Next, all through the awards day, yearbook signing, and the last day of the school you could see the biggest kids in the school crying in the hallway and lunchroom!
Why do some kids cry and others don't! I don't know for sure, but assume it's just the emotional links inside. The difference this year for me, was on the last day of school as we are clapping and hugging the kids good-bye, we couldn't get rid of the kids! They didn't want to leave! Several teachers had to herd them onto their buses and to their cars and send them off. We want the elementary kids to get home too late. They are ready to cheer and step up into the wonderful world of being a 6th grader at our wonderful school.
What most of the kids don't know is after all of the buses and waves are completed, the teachers all cheer, slap high fives, and are thankful for a much needed summer break. We finish cleaning our rooms, check out, break bread together, and leave to our workshops, rest, or summer jobs! Whatever the case, the 2-month time is needed for a refreshing of the mind to get ready for the next school year. Now how would we do this with year-round schooling?
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1 comment:
Wow! Powerful word Hugo. I am sure that you and the other teachers and administrators there experience something every end-of-school-year that the rest of couldn't come close to understanding unless we too were a part of the three-year investment into the lives of the students.
You ARE making a difference. Thank you for making the lives of those students an important part of your life.
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