There Go My Babies

How did it get so late so soon? It's night before it's afternoon. December is here before it is June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon? ~ Dr. Seuss

Just yesterday these children were giggling and sword fighting on a second grade field trip and now they are high school graduates! I am absolutely amazed at how quickly time has passed and how much has changed. Technically, my first class graduated two years ago...but that was from the first school where I taught. I lost touch with all of those children...except for the ones I read about in the court section of the newspaper. This was my first class of students "from home". I have watched these children grow from children into adults. There will always be a connection between this group of children and myself. I don't know if they realize how special they are to me since they are still neophytes when it comes to adult emotion. We spent the first two years of my CHS career learning together. I taught them and they certainly taught me. Daughter was born when I had this group of children. I fielded many a question about pregnancy and breastfeeding. I learned how to deal with children pulling down their pants in class. And those are just two small examples! Before the ceremony on Saturday night I wrote a personal note to all of my graduating "babies" and passed each one a card right before they entered the gym. One hugged me and said, "You were always my favorite!" Wow! What a compliment considering the vast number of excellent teachers that student has encountered in her career. One boy I hadn't seen in forever was amazingly tall! He said, "I haven't seen you in so long!" All I could say was "I remember when I used to look down to talk to you!" I was so proud of each of them. Of course not all of the students in the picture graduated with the class...some have moved or were retained, but that's the way life goes. I was also extremely proud when the salutatorian and valedictorian were both former students. Even in second grade I knew they were going to be at the top of the class. It's amazing how that can be seen so early. I wish all the graduates much success in the future. Congratulations, class of 2006!