The Rookery

It's very hard to say goodbye.  

We really are like a family when we come to the end of two years together — we've learned together, laughed together, gotten exasperated with each other,  worked really hard, and even shed a tear or two.  It's one of the greatest joys of working at Prairie Creek to be able to forge such deep relationships with students and to watch them come together as a community that exists beyond me.

On our last day, each Heron receives a necklace with a single bead.  We pass the necklaces around and each Heron shares a memory that we "load" into the bead we're holding before we pass the necklace to the next student.  At the end, each bead has been touched by and has a story from every Heron.  Very few of these stories have to do with me — instead, the students share moments and memories from the web we've created that holds us together.  There are a lot of inside jokes and a lot of nodding heads as we remember seminal moments.

And then, at graduation, we share our final hugs and try to give them one more memory to hold onto.  It can sometimes be hard to find yourself in a new place, in a new crowd.

Perhaps they'll just remember the song they wrote about the school where everybody knows their names:

We've been everywhere, man.  We've been everywhere man, across the Prairie Creek Square, man, breathed that Castle Rock air, man.  Leranin' we've had our share, man.  We've been everywhere.

We've been to the Millcity Museum, Riverbend Nature Center, Science Museum, the Planetarium, Wolf Ridge, Caron Park, Imax, Raptor Center — Goin' on Field Trips nothin' is better.

We've done the Back to School picnic, guided recess, goal setting conferences, All School Gathering, big fort building, cross country skiing — These are the traditions we are keeping.

We've celebrated New Years Eve Day, May Day, Pi Day, Valentines Day, Special Persons' Day, Talk like a Pirate Day, 100 school days, MCA day (not a very fun day!)

We really like Wednesday Late starts, reading buddies, all class camp outs, African Drumming, Clowning the Circus, last day carnival, peep village, Twisted Tales, Prairie Creek never fails!

We'd like to thank Cathy, Amy, Michelle and Amy Nancy and Molly, Jennifer and Jeanné, Elise, Rachel, susan, Hey Caroline!  We're cruisin'  Let's not forget naomi, Kelsey, Margaret and Natalie, Sarah, Greta, Chris and Christina, Angie, Laura, Dori, Pam and Mary, Nikki and Bob and Elizabeth and Andy!  And we've got Theresa, Collen and Ona in the front room, Simon the director (he is so cool!)  Everyone's taught us a lot, look at what we all have got!

(BIG BREATH) we've been through Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade now we're leavin' what a shame!  Goin' on to Middle School, it's gonna be crazy cool, but we know where we're from — Prairie Creek is NUMBER ONE!

Huge thanks to the Leonards, Steve Zillmer and Bo Aylin (and I'm sure others I'm not aware of) for bringing this awesome song to us today.

Thank you for a wonderful year — it's been a joy to grow with your children.