Today, a group of kids celebrated the end of their wonderful year with a marvellous teacher. This morning, along with their parents and family members, they all congregated in the school gym to receive a certificate and present from their teacher and to watch a montage DVD show, pulled together by their fearless leader, which captured snippets of their life at Garden Creek School........baby photos which they had brought in, kindergarten shots and then a whole collage of their Grade 5 year. During the ceremony, each child's name was announced as they proceeded onto the stage to receive their certificate from their teacher. What was the most moving of all was when a child known for his rambunctious energy and unrulyness wrapped his arms around his favourite teacher and gave him the most heartfelt hug in front of 100 onlookers. One after another, children hugged him until tears were rolling down many faces. One little guy bounced up the stairs and literally flew up into his arms........
Another boy, the biggest kid in the class who deals with big things at home, who is sometimes known to be a bully on the playground stood in front of his mentor, opened up his arms and gave him the biggest bearhug of all. He didn't want to let go.
Tonight, one of the parents arranged for the lodge at O'Dell Park to celebrate over pizza and some games. An hour and a half before the party was to begin, Mr. Slack and 9 of his students met to bike throughout the paths together. All keen to squeeze as many drops of time with this man. Afterwards, water fights and balloon popping games carried them into the early evening. As an onlooker, it was so obvious to see how much this whole class has benefited from his guidance, and his love of what he does so well.
It has been a bittersweet day. They have had a blast....even spent the afternoon in their classroom turning the smart board system into a guitar hero competition. After a long and very fruitful year of learning, where enrichment and extra curriculars were implemented along with the regular curriculum, it was time to close the formal learning books and enjoy each others company as most of them have since they began Kindergarten. Many of them have been together since then. They are a tight knit group of great kids who all have bounced out of their homes every single morning since September eager to learn together. Amazing.
A few captured photos...........of their last full day together. This last one is of my son Max and beautiful Abby, his friend and archrival both scholastically and in the gym playing indoor soccer. They have challenged one another in many ways since they began school together in Kindergarten. All healthy good stretching..........and collaborations.
I have much to say about my own feelings of this small milestone as it is our last week having a daily connection with this wonderful place, but will save it for another day. It's my son's day to shine.........and to know the joy of belonging to a group of peers he will continue to grow up with. Unconditionally......
4 comments:
Look at all those happy faces. Isn't it wonderful to see a teacher evoke such love and enthusiasm from his students? He looks like a lovely young man. A sad day for all of them I'm sure but it looks as though they are going to wring every last drop out of their obvious happiness in his company.
Gypsy.....YES they will! His guidance will be felt for the rest of their lives. I would bet that every single one of them will be saying that he was their favourite teacher by far years from now.
I am also thinking that he may have planted seeds in the minds of the boys to consider teaching as a calling for themselves.
I am a firm believer that we need more male teachers at this stage in our children's lives, especially for the kids who don't have good role models. I have had the chance to watch some of these kids grow and feel a sense of love and belonging throughout their years at this school and now with this man......it has set solid foundations which they may never had found.
This man put together an hour long montage.....a DVD with pictures and videos.....all set to music and gave them all a copy of their own. We watched it last night as a family and it was just beautiful. Almost every single picture depicted joy while learning. You can't get much better than that.
Wonderful photos of precious moments to remember. Thanks for sharing the joy. Your son looks very clever, with spark and spirit.
wonderful memories and what a foundation... I am trying not to think about Sam's last days at her school - next week...bittersweet indeed...
lovely photos, thanks for sharing
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