Two years ago, the Beloit Turner Class of 2021 left for high school, and I wrote them an open letter and posted it here. It was the sappiest thing I had ever done in my entire career and I was nervous to post it because that didn't fit my persona. BUT, the response was overwhelmingly positive and I realized that it's incredibly selfish to keep those sappy reflective things internalized. Last year brought an entirely different wave of emotions as I shared more sappy and reflective thoughts as I prepared to leave Turner. So here goes, the third installment in what has now become a tradition...
Dear Class of 2024, You will automatically hold a more special and unique place in my memory simply because you're my first Waunakee class, but please believe me when I say that's not the only reason you stand out. There are a lot of things I want to take an opportunity to highlight and thank you for. First of all, thank you for thanking me. I remember the first day of school, Eli Stormer walked out of my class and said "Thank you Mr. Honish," and my gut reaction was to just blurt out "for what???" I was honestly perplexed. I had been thanked by students and parents before, but it usually came in the form of a Christmas card, Teacher Appreciation Week letter or yearbook signing... never at the end of a random class period. Eli wasn't unique in this though. I don't think a single school day went by when I wasn't thanked by at least one of you. I want to thank you for your flexibility. I was new to the building and my two 7th grade social studies teammate teachers were brand new as well. Mrs. Peters-Felice always talked about how we were "building the plane as we were flying it," meaning all your lessons, all your materials, all your projects and quizzes, the organization of your units, and EVERYTHING else about your academic year was made from scratch this year. That means there were certainly times we didn't even know how our own projects were going to go. We did not anticipate problems that arose. We NEVER knew what the plan was for next month, we often didn't know what the plan was for the next week, and sometimes we weren't even positive what the plan was for the next DAY! I was always confident that you'd roll with it and make the best of what we were doing though, because you proved incredibly willing and adaptable throughout all of it. I also want to thank you for your work ethic. As a relative outsider this year, I think a lot of people that have been in this school for a long time have started to take the high achievement of the students for granted. You're middle school students. There will be late assignments. There will be times you space out. I knew you would find unblocked chromebook games, and boy did you ever find unblocked chromebook games! I think others may see you as having much more apathy and laziness in you than they should. I was amazed by how detail oriented you were and how thorough you were in following instructions. Every time I was late for lunch duty because someone needed to ask some clarifying questions and every time I rolled my eyes when my watch buzzed notifying me of an email at 9:36pm I had to just shake my head and remind myself that this was an outstanding problem to have compared to so many other teachers elsewhere. A lot of that stuff is pretty academic though, and I want to make sure you understand that I truly loved getting to know you all throughout the year and forming so many bonds. I feel like I have a million little inside jokes that were all created over the last nine months. There are a couple secret handshakes, new nicknames, lots of begging for Instagram @'s and a fair number of Tik Toks featuring me in the background doing nothing. I "hit the no", smack talked with you over dodgeball and recess football, had one legendary run at Slope on the Smartboard, and I understand how my air conditioner functions. I've rocked out to JoJo Siwa and overheard more beatboxing than I ever thought I would. Thank you for welcoming me with open arms. I know in some ways you didn't have a choice... I mean, you were assigned to my class and as a seventh grader you kind of have to go to the classes you're assigned and deal with the teachers you're assigned, but seriously... you had to deal with a certified weirdo all year. Our room was a country. You were in a pseudo military and were forced to salute me to receive little slips of paper with your promotion badges on them. You had to listen to me profess my love of Alabama football and the Bucks, then deal with my anguish and sorrow as their seasons came close to glory but fell painfully short. You had to listen to me shout over and over that the surface of a sphere cannot be laid flat on a 2-D surface without distorting it. You had to watch standards based grades convert to letter grades in infinite campus. I pitted you against each other and dangled points over your every move for a team photo and a box of donuts (or doughnuts?) at the end of the year. You were asked to be on camera, asked to dance in educational rap videos, and asked to cover me on deep routes at recess ensuring you would be torched and embarrassed for being outrun by a 31 year old with creaky knees. I think one big reason I'm so glad you welcomed me with open arms is because I spent much of the year trying to figure out exactly where and how I fit in with this school, my colleagues, and the district. There was a learning curve and I had to find my people. It wasn't a completely new experience for me and I've been "the new guy" before, but the start of this year came with a lot of anxiety and unknowns. I had to figure out a lot of typical new guy things, like the bell schedule, using Infinite Campus, and navigating the building. Those things ended up being fairly simple overall (I mean, the building is just a series of rectangles... impossible to get lost...) but there was one adjustment that has continued to prove the most difficult. Waunakee has a completely different culture than anything I've ever been in before. That's what made it especially challenging to find where and how I fit in with the school and district and to figure out who my people really are. I'm not going to beat around the bush, it's a very affluent and privileged community overall, and I did not grow up or teach in anything close to this previously. You are all incredibly lucky to be in a district with the resources to support you and a community of families and neighbors that is heavily involved with your schools and does everything in their power to support your education. However, with all of those positives also come a different set of expectations than I am used to, and traditions and styles that are different than mine and were well established before I arrived. This is where I really need to thank you Class of 2024. Through all the transition, through the adjustment in culture and expectation, you have proven one of my core beliefs: Kids are kids. No matter where they are from, no matter what their background, kids are kids. There were a lot of adults making assumptions about what kind of kids you would be or what kind of kids I had at previous schools based on nothing but the backgrounds you all came from and the reputations that preceded the communities each school was in. Sometimes I think adults make really incorrect assumptions. I tried to go into the school year and approach each day with the attitude that we were going to get to know each other and learn about the world like any other group of 7th graders anywhere else, because you were 7th grade kids. You were my people. I had an amazing year and I'll miss you all incredibly over the summer. I will also become very bitter if you become too cool for me as 8th graders because you think you run everything. And of course, I love you all! Even if you'll roll your eyes and groan just as loud reading that as you do when I tell you in a classroom. Long live the DPRH! Have a great summer and 8th grade year -Mr. Honish
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AuthorJohn Honish: Archives
June 2021
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