And just like that....it's over.
The hugs, the tears, the feelings....I hope I truly never forget how yesterday felt.
I asked my class to think of something they learned this year and the first little girl raised her hand and said, "Friendship is the most important thing in life." I broke down. Nobody talked about math or reading. It was purely about feeling safe, having friends, knowing their teacher loves them so.
There is absolutely, no doubt, that was my best class ever. I've said this before, but this class....was magical. I knew it when it was happening. I could feel it daily. I talked about it to them and to others about how lucky we are.
I made the longest iMovie of my life, nearly 45 min. How could I delete pictures? Delete memories? I couldn't. So they're all there.
They were well behaved. They were an extremely intelligent class. They were hard workers. My test scores have never been higher. I had to double check the accuracy they were so high. When it was confirmed, I thought, "This class is just about perfect." My heart is so full it hearts. A little girl had tears falling onto her paper. I whispered, "Are you ok?" She stood up and wrapped her arms around me and cried. I cried holding her little body against mine like she was my daughter. Nobody, laughed or said a word. We were all feeling it. We had all grown together enough to respect each other and if she needed to cry and hug that's exactly what she's get. I knew I wouldn't let her go, until she let me go. So we hugged for a while and she pulled back, looked up at me and started crying all over again hugging even tighter now.
I walked down the hall with them for the last time at 3:42 with a handful of tissues in front of colleagues and parents who don't know my and hugged and whispered to each and everyone of them at Parent Pick Up, at the edge of the sidewalk for the walkers and at each bus.
Team 216 2015-2016 will be in my heart forever….
*Written on June 10, 2016
