I don't think I would ever go back to teaching children for just a year…but it does make the last day of school very hard. These kids have been a part of my daily life for the past two years – we've joked and laughed and learned and sometimes just sat in silent, sad wonder at some meanness in the world. Students always come back to visit but it's never quite the same. The ease we have today will never completely return.
So, to help with the leave taking, we have a lot of traditions (I had a chance to write a lot about them in a blog post last August.) But even with those traditions, I won't be able to take name stickers off of bins and cubbies until August. If I do it now, it's just too sad.
An anonymous poet left a gift for the school in the Heron homework bin. It was quite a gift. Prairie Creek can be a hard place to describe…but this poem captures it in a way I never have. Because it was an anonymous gift, I couldn't get explicit permission to share the work – but I hope the poet understands that, sometimes, words need to be shared. Enjoy.
To PCCS
I will miss
you
the
sound of
clattering
footsteps
the
loudness
of the
classrooms
sighs
of sadness
when the school day’s
over
I will miss
you
the scratching
of pencils racing
down the side of
the page
finding
stories
the deep
echoing
sound of
silence while
they think
about puzzles
stories
really anything
the hum
of
ideas flitting
and connecting
into
one another
I will miss
you
the fort building
of sticks and minds
thinking
“Where should
this go?”
the running
jumping
climbing
ones filled with happiness
the laughs
of
children
feet touching, grazing
their dreams
I will miss
you
leaders rising
among stars and constellations
aligning
lending
hands to
others
branching out
extending
they persist
climbing mountains
I will miss
you
silliness slipping
from cracks
spilling out
the crazy
adventures
clothes, wet
a little tint of mud
maybe
a lot
the funny games
honey, if you love me
I will miss
you
the intense
trench games
balls flying through
the air
the silent yet strong
persistence of
plank
the hard and fast
yet steady
run of cross country
I will miss
you
the support
of friends
and teachers
the bond
of love,
kindness,
bravery,
hope,
and us
The Rookery 
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