The last day of school… unless you are or have been an educator, you can never understand the emotions we feel on this day each year.
We spend 9 months (and sometimes longer if we get to have them for multiple years) learning everything about our students. We know how to read their mood the moment they walk in the door, we know what snacks they love, we know what to say to help them when they are stuck, we know just what skills they have and what they are struggling with, we know their parents, their siblings, their pets, and often their extended family. We are invited to birthday parties and we celebrate many occasions with them as if they were our own. We know their fears, their hopes, their dreams and we root for each and every one of them day in and day out for 9 months.
And then it comes… the last day of school. Most will think teachers feel overjoyed on this day (and don’t get me wrong, the feeling of an extended break is joyful) but often you will find educators with tears in their eyes. Tears as we say good-bye to these little people we have loved as if they were are on. Tears that we won’t see them every day. Tears that we have to trust the next teacher to see them and understand them like we do. Tears that, in a nutshell, they are no longer ours.
But, that never really happens and they are never “no longer ours.” They may move onto a different classroom or different school but each child is still ours in a way. We will always want to know what they are up to and how they are doing. We will always want to be informed of their future successes. We will always remembers them and that funny thing that happened while they were in our classroom. And, we will carry a little bit of each of them in our hearts forever.
And, now they are yours for the summer… but know we are here and you can reach out anytime! Tuesday is not a goodbye… but rather a “see you soon!”