A Surprise Party

The end of the school year is always fast paced - there is so much to do as you wind down an academic year. I am learning that, if you add in retirement to the mix, things become ever more hectic.

But those add-ins are often poignant and touching, like the surprise party a bunch of my former students threw for me on Thursday. I was bringing my class back from a chess meet with another class...

 ... and was stunned to discover that the classroom was already full.

I knew these people!

They were former students from my twelve years as a Hershey teacher!

Kathleen handed me a container of her mother's famous "Loftus Fudge"...

 ... and then gave me a big hug.

I was so stunned, I did not know what to do or say. 

There were former students everywhere, mingling with my current class!

There were so many people, I did not know who to talk to first.

So I just jumped in!

So many people who have been dear to me over the years.

After mingling for a while and for old time's sake, my former students wanted to go out to the playground (even though some of them are college students!)

 This is one of my favorite photos from the day.

While we were outside, we took photos by the year the students were with me.

 Front row: Katy, Albert, Sophie, and Jessica. Back row: Lilli and Angelina. They are finishing their sophomore year at Harrison.

 Nikki, Lauren , and 6'3" Zach  (when did he get so tall?!) are freshmen in high school.

Ben and Meredith, who were in the 2/3 and 4/5 class with me and so were with me three years, just finished their freshman year at Purdue.

 Harrison seniors Emily, Kathleen, twins Grace and Ellen, and Jon.

Chris, Daniel, Jay, and Erin are juniors in high school. (Jay just flew out to Los Angeles and met with a producer and recorded some demo records after his YouTube channel was discovered by an agent. He was also invited to appear on The Voice but declined. His YouTube channel can be found here; he has over 53,000 subscribers! Note to self: get his autograph while I can!)

Caroline and Madeline will be juniors at Purdue this August and were part of the original 2/3 and 4/5 class and thus with me for three years.

The party wound down after two and a half hours.

Such a lovely gesture from these folks, and so meaningful to me to see them all again. I am incredibly blessed to have been their teacher.

State Champs!

(Not horse-related, but this blog post is because I am so proud of some former students.)

Four of my former students are on the Harrison High School Quiz Bowl team, and they just became the state champions!

My students are the four on the right and are Nick Nolte, Jon Hillery, Noah Wert, and Jacob Schwartz. My class is a two year class, so I had these boys for both 4th and 5th grade.

Quiz Bowl is a game in which teams compete head to head to answer questions from all areas of knowledge - history, literature, science, fine arts, current events, sports, etc. It is very difficult, and requires lots and lots of preparation. The competition is fierce.

The team heads to New Orleans over Memorial Day weekend to participate in the National Quiz Bowl. I am thrilled for them!

A Surprise Visit

Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post about a former student, Mackenna, who has founded an equine club at the high school. (Go here for that entry.) I included this picture of her along with another former student, Maya, also a horse lover, who had come out to visit Abby one summer evening.

 Maya, Abby, Mackenna.

Well, guess who surprised me with a visit to my classroom yesterday, in full graduation regalia?!

 Maya and me.

She's received a full four year scholarship to Indiana University. Needless to say, I was delighted to see her again and hear all her news. 

She also brought along several other familiar faces!

Brock, Taylor, Kensi, Maya, me, Meredith, and Adam.

I had these kiddos for THREE years. I was teaching the 2nd/3rd Gifted class when they were 2nd graders, and then moved to the 4th/5th Gifted class (where I am still teaching.) As a result, I got to be their 2nd, 4th, and 5th grade teacher.

Needless to say, when you are together that long, the bond between you becomes very close. And so, their surprise visit yesterday afternoon was very much a highlight for me.

There were a lot of happy tears.