Today was the last day of school before the long Memorial Day weekend. Our principal made an announcement at the start of the day to remind the students they wouldn't have school on Monday. Predictably, many of them raised their hands and cheered. A small number of bold ones even looked in my direction with a hint of challenge in their eyes as they cheered, as if I were their jailer and they had somehow just gotten the best of me. It always occurs to me in these moments how they don't make the connection that I’m getting the time off as well.
Being an extra day long, Memorial Day weekend does feel like a teaser for the oncoming summer, regardless of the weather (and our weekend is supposed to be great this year, so yay for that). As the school year closes, there are a lot of similar benchmark events that signal things are about to change. Here are ten of my favorites, from the past and the present. As always, in no particular order:
1 - End of the Year School Patrol Celebrations at the American Legion. I was the patrol advisor at my school for fifteen years and was recruited back to share it under a one year contract later on, much like Bud Grant coming out of retirement when the Vikings needed his guidance. The patrols were usually a good bunch of kids, so getting to hang out with them for some after school pizza party chaos at the Legion hall a few blocks from school was always good for a few laughs. Since several other schools from the city also attended, I'd usually run into some other teacher friends and community people I'd gotten to know over the years but didn't get to see very often.
2 - The Young Author's Conference. This is a big deal field trip for a select number of students, all of whom have demonstrated some interest and ability in writing. I've chaperoned this twice and get to again this year, so you can count on a more detailed description of the day showing up here very soon.
3 - Yearbooks. The students love their yearbooks, and ours have evolved into something really nice over the past couple of decades. I've bought one from every year I've taught and do my best to get every student I worked with to sign it before the year ends. I never get them all, but I usually get close. I think the collection will be nice to have when my career eventually ends.
4 - My sleeping patterns are off. This isn't great since it leads to some tired mornings, but I like the reminder of how it won't be much longer until it doesn't matter if I stay up late, or sleep in, or get up early, or set my alarm ever, or take as many naps as I want.
5 - "June," by Spock's Beard. It's become my own tradition to play this song first thing in the morning when I wake up on June 1st. I realize most people who read this will not have heard the song before and won't know the band (sorry, your loss), but it's a beautiful song and has an appropriate feel for some quiet acknowledgement that a big chunk of life is about to wrap up.
6 - Track and Field Day / Post-Track and Field Collaboration. Our Phy. Ed. teacher really goes out of his way to make Track and Field Day an event at our school: The DJ, the frozen treats, the 5th grade all-stars competition, the dunk tank, mapping out the events and planning a well-organized rotation, and probably as many family members coming to spend the day at school as there are students. Since it takes up the entire school day, there's never any time left for the staff to have any of the terribly important collaboration sessions that we usually thrive on, so we'll get together and take care of that at some off-campus establishment after the school day has ended.
7 - Locker Clean Out Day. I love the feeling when this is over. All of the stuff that never went home is cleared out. The emptied lockers echo a little louder in the hallway, giving us a subconscious cue that we're almost at the end of the year.
8 - The Shoreview Field Trip. Fifth grade takes an end of the year celebration field trip to a community center with a massive pool in a nearby suburb each year in the final week. I've done this field trip eighteen times, and this year will be my last one. As far as field trips go it's about as low-impact as they get. I've always liked the visual of seeing the entire grade level together as one group, having a good time in the pool and enjoying each other for one of the last times they'll be THAT group before they move on and become diluted by so many other kids at the middle school.
9 - The Appreciation Letters. Many years ago I started a project in which I had the fifth graders reflect on their time at our school and think about who on the staff had really made a difference for them, and then writing that person (or those people, because several kids do this more than once) a letter to express their appreciation. a few kids blow this off and hand in letters that are little more than obligatory afterthoughts, but almost everyone thinks up at least one person they want to thank, and it's always fascinating to see some of the specific reasons and memories they mention when they do. I know from comments I've received over the years that the project means a lot to the people on the staff who get these letters, but I think it means even more to the kids, and helps them get some closure in their final days of elementary school.
10 - The final drive home. Not so much a rite of spring as a beginning of summer, but it's still a big moment when that last day of school for the teachers, the work day when the students aren't around, finally comes to an end. The year is done, the grading is finished, the files are filed, the boxes are packed, the goodbyes are said. People share summer plans, say last goodbyes to any retirees, stuff their belongings and last-day-of-school gifts in the cars and drive off to enjoy their break. The drive home always starts off a with a touch of immediate and melancholy loneliness for me since I'm leaving my school friends behind for a few months, and I know my life isn't going to intersect much with most of them during that time. But by the time I reach home, my perspective has switched. It's sunk in that summer vacation as arrived, and I start to feel the whole world open up in front of me: I've got some 70+ days off from work, and I know I've done the best I could have in the school year I just walked away from. Those two things feel pretty good.
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