Saving kids....

 This May, May 20th to be exact, I am retiring from public education.  I have not been on the job as long as many others, I was a late bloomer and finished my degree after my own children were in high school. So I am retiring with 17 years in my current district and about 6 from another district and being a para from a special education cooperative.  I have mixed feelings about retiring.  I wish I could have taught longer, but my health mandates less stress.  

Over the last 17 years  I have worked in various positions and over all I have worked diligently to save kids.  Mostly that meant to help kids (students) graduate from high school.  In high school you have to earn all your credits in the courses needed to graduate.   If a course is not passed then it must be repeated.This is not the same from previous years in education.  From kindergarten through 8th grade a student can be promoted even when they don't pass the course content, but when high school is reached, every credit counts.  

17 years ago, when I began working at Buhler,  I found that more than ever, I love helping students.  Trying to learn who they are and how they feel about school then how they best learn was my passion.  It still is my passion. However I learned the last couple years that it is time to embrace a new adventure and retire.I wish I had a count of all who graduated high school that I had in my classes.  I have loved them so much.  They make me smile.  I listen to their joys and hurts.  I listen to their dreams and I hope that they meet them and find joy in their future.  

However, covid happened, and attitudes changed.  Students lost drive and so did I .  The pandemic took its toll.  One unique positive came from the last two years.  A student, a boy, pre-pandemic, an unexpected life changing event.  Johnny.

Johnny began as a sophomore student in my class in January 2020.  Now Johnny is a member of my family and a son to me.  Johnny is a gregarious person who captures friends and hearts with his outgoing personality.   Johnny isn't an easy student.  He has a big personality.  Yet I love him.  

He will graduate from high school in two weeks, and I am very proud of him.  I work hard to make sure he has all the paperwork he needs completed for college done and that he is prepared for the next step in his education.  I want him to reach all the goals he sets for himself.  I treat him the same as I did my son and daughter.  He reaps all the benefits of a school mom who loves him as well as the consequences of a school mom that is focussed on education.  Yet he seems to deal with me well. =)

I think in my heart Johnny represents all the students I have had and loved and tried to help.  He is special because of the circumstances, I actually took him home to care for him and "mom" him, even though I mom most of my students every day.  Johnny has a family, a mom and a dad and brother and sisters, yet he allows me to care for him too.  it is a blessings for both of us.  

I will meet some of Johnny's family on May 14th, at graduation.  I am nervous.  Just because I don't know them yet.  I am humbled that I get to be a part of his life.  I want to care for him and give him a home.  I know his family loves him too.  It will be a special day.  

It will be so hard to leave the school and the building on May 20.  But I know each student that I ever had in my classes will remain a part of my heart.  I will miss my peers, my colleagues.  They have been my family for so many years, I have been with them everyday and they have treated me dearly.  It hurts to know I won't see them 10 months of the year.  Yet I know it is time. 

New adventures await, New challenges are ahead, and those at school, both students and faculty-friends will forever be in my heart. ❣️