The Really Hard Part #2



So, after the "Minions" graduated, there was a huge gap to fill! That following September, I truly realized how much time those kids had spent with me over the last 3 years when I had no one in my room at lunch; no one bugging me on my off block and I didn't know anyone in the halls. Thus the "Squad" came to be for the next 2 years!

My door had always been open to any student who needed a place to hang at lunch, and so they trickled in. Kenzie, Thomas, Alex, Emily, Danielle, Jacalyn, Joseph, Ece, Max, Ryan, Olivia, Brianne, Ethan and many others who drifted in and out during lunch hours and off blocks. They were a different bunch; much needier than the Minions, but wonderful, quirky kids full of ideals and dreams. They were the Political junkies and History geeks, so it was a natural fit. We railed over Trump; got through a Teachers' sort of strike; turned Liberals into Conservatives after they realized that cute doesn't cut it in politics..lol!We hashed out philosophy and religion; conspiracy theories and history. No holds barred; they brought the questions, the issues and we solved the world's problems in Room 201!


Garlic fingers became the cure all for boy problems and the angst caused by a particular Math teacher! Melt downs were common, and I frequently had to mop the floor after crying jags. Thomas, Emily and Danielle looked after me in Peru when I had pneumonia; Kenzie and Jacalyn followed in the footsteps of our WW1 and WW2 Veterans in Normandy at Vimy 100! Max, Brady, Alex and Ethan kept me laughing and pulling my hair out! We all made it through, and their Grad was also my final Grad. It was a very queer feeling knowing that I was leaving with them. Very special.





After I returned from Kenya, Kenzie organized a get together at Tim Halman's Constituency Office. I walked in and they were there...for me. Minions and Squad....as I sit here writing this, I feel a loss, even though it is one that is natural and necessary as we all must follow our own paths, but I, nonetheless feel a void that has not yet been filled. Perhaps I am trying too hard to fill it; these things can not be rushed. Not when so much of who I was, who I still am, is still back in the classroom with all of them.




Love can be a rare commodity in today's world. But if filled that office to overflowing. These were "my" kids, and they always will be. They gave me the greatest gifts a teacher could ever ask for: their trust, their kindness, their laughter; their respect; their curiosity and their love. For that I am humbled and thankful.  My kids. I miss you all.









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