Great Kids!!

I've been a bit emotional over the past week or so as I've watched this year's eighth graders move on from Pearl C. Anderson to high school. This year's group was just extra special to me. First of all, they were the last group I actually taught. I had many of them as sixth graders for language arts the last year before I become librarian, so I had a special bond with them because of that. Secondly, there were several in the group that I knew even before Pearl C. Anderson, some I've known since they were in third grade at H.S. Thompson. All year long I dreaded when the eighth grade reading classes came to the library because, like most eighth grade classes, they were at a stage of being extremely difficult....playing too much and being too grown at the same time. There were definitely students in this group that made life hard for everyone at this school. But there were also LOTS of really good kids...really smart kids...kids with a lot of potential in this group who I am going to miss so much.

I'm going to miss Curtis. Curtis is one of the ones I've known since third grade when he was in our ASA and I also taught him in sixth grade. Curtis has always been an outstanding kid...polite, smart, creative, funny. And Curtis is a big reader so I saw him almost every other day in the library this year. I guess it paid off because he got a perfect score on his TAKS Reading test! And he got accepted to DISD's Middle College High School at El Centro, where he will be taking college courses for dual credit and graduate high school with enough credits for an associate's degree! I am so proud of him and know he is going to be very successful in life.





I'm going to miss Lea. Lea is the former sixth grade student that I blogged about earlier who has become an avid reader. In fact, we already have plans to visit the public library together this summer. I will miss Lea coming in almost every day to chat with me about books and about life. Lea has a really good head on her shoulders and isn't caught up in all of the distractions that get other young girls off track. She is so mature and that is rare. I'm going to miss her expertise on books for sure, though, but hopefully she'll still keep me updated on what's good!



I'm going to miss Carmen, Antoyrie, and Zhamarya. I had these girls in sixth grade...all are VERY smart and sweet. They also were in my girls' book club the past couple of years. Carmen is brilliant and has been accepted at Townview, one of the top high schools in the country. Antoyrie is going to spend her summer volunteering at the Science Place. These girls have always been good students, respectful and responsible and eager to learn and participate in positive things. These are girls I definitely have to keep in touch with...in fact, Antoyrie is going to come exercise/work out with me next week! :-)



I'm going to miss Chantecy. She is another former student who came in almost every day to vent to me about something, but that provided lots of opportunity for "mentoring" and chats about some important things. Chantecy isn't quite as focused as some of the other girls I've mentioned, though I do believe she has potential...but may need a little closer guidance to keep from getting caught up in the wrong stuff.





These are just a few in this class that have a soft place in my heart...there are many more. I just get so attached to kids, even the ones that were getting on my last nerve every time I saw them this year! At their eight-grade walkacross ceremony last Friday, it just really hit me how much love I have for this group and how sad I am to see them go. It's really hard to keep in touch with students when they move on and so I know that in many cases, I won't see these kids again. I won't ever know what becomes of many of them. At the same time, I felt guilty because I also realized how much I had taken for granted the time I had with them. I had three years with most of these kids. Did I do my best for them? Did I give them everything I had to offer? Did I make the best impact I could on them? Unfortunately, I can't always say that I did, and now I wish for a little more time with them. But they're gone...off to high school. And all I can do is try to keep in touch with the ones I can and pray for the ones I can't. And try harder to give all I've got to next year's kids so I won't have any regrets when I see them go.