Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Goodbye Mr. Chips...

The school year has ended.

Anna, our sweet girl, is saying goodbye to Mrs. Harmon.

She is the only teacher Anna has had at Clinton Elementary. We were fortunate that she decided to loop from kindergarten to first grade. Sadly, others won't get the chance to be lovingly taught by her for she is retiring this year. Now that doesn't mean she won't be teaching others. I suspect that will continue. Just not as an elementary teacher, sadly enough.

 A few weeks ago, Miss Crafty, otherwise known as Anna, was writing a card to Mrs. Harmon. When she showed us the completed note she had written our hearts melted reading it. So right then and there we decided this would be Mrs. Harmon's Teacher/Retirement gift. We set about finding some nice scrapbook paper and a suitable frame to commemorate what, I'm sure, many first graders have felt about Mrs. Harmon over the years. Anna just happened to capture it beautifully. 

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Translation: Dear Miss Harmon, I wish we could stay and learn more with you. It was fun being your student. You're my favorite teacher to me. You are a best teacher a girl could have.

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 sniff...sniff...

And to make matters more heart wrenching, our first born is no longer an elementary student.  We couldn't be more proud of Gavin this past school year.  He stepped up his academic game and discovered that studying really pays off.  He had some great teachers this year to help him as well. But he was especially fond of Mrs. Underwood, his science and math teacher.  She too is retiring this year.  When Gavin saw what Anna had done for Mrs. Harmon, he asked us if he could do something like that for Mrs. Underwood.  Gavin is our perfectionist.  I knew that this would be a challenge for him because he struggles his humanness.  Simple mistakes can upset his entire world (and thus ours too) and the aftermath can be exhausting both for him and us.  After three attempts at a thank you note, he was finally satisfied with what he had written. Blood, sweat and tears went into this, dear readers.
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So our not so little boy is moving onto middle school.

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When we moved to Clinton almost four years ago now, we were trepidatious about the education our kids would recieve in a small rural county in South Carolina.  And although we still struggle with living a world away from family and dear friends, we have come to learn that education comes in many forms and not just from one source.  Both our children have had elementary teachers that gave their all and were genuinely committed to our kids' welfare.  Along with our committment to our children's education, you couldn't ask for a better team.

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