Dear Class of 2021,
I was too cold on the last day of school. Too emotionless. I didn't properly show all of you what you really meant to me, and I don't know why I didn't. Maybe because I feel like it's my job to hold it together at school. After all, sappiness and sentimentality is not really part of my persona. Plus, there's the unwritten rule that teachers aren't supposed to have favorites. So I'll start with an apology for not finding the time to tell all of you about the impact the Class of 2021 had on my career and my life while we were still at school. I went up to the podium at the awards ceremony with every intention of delivering at least a brief expression of how awesome you really are and how much I will miss you... but when I got to the part where I was going to directly address you all, sitting out there in the center of the auditorium, I froze up. There was an awkward pause and I said "and THAT'S IT" and exited the stage faster than I should have. Since I totally blew my opportunity to address you all in person, I'll try my best to put it all out there now. The thing is, I don't possibly know how to tell all of you everything I'm thinking. I went to the last day of school suppressing lots of different emotions: pride in knowing how much you've all learned, grown and matured, excitement to see what you'll accomplish in high school over the next four years, anxiety about what the school will be like when you're gone, and incredible sadness at the realization that you will not set foot in Room 17 for class again. Summer break is great, don't get me wrong... but the start of this summer break feels like it may have come too soon... due to the undeniable fact that I am not ready to see you go. I haven't felt like this about watching 8th graders transition to high school since my very first class of seventh graders, the graduating class of 2017, moved on from the middle school in 2013. They were my guinea pigs and showed me how much I had to learn about teaching, but also affirmed for me that I had chosen the correct profession. I had never invested so much time, energy, thought, emotion and even real money into a group of 125 people before. Watching them go was harder than I thought it would be. And yet, our middle school is physically attached to our high school. PLUS, administration had me teach a section of Freshman Global Studies in 2013-14. I quickly realized that it was irrational to "miss" the class of 2017... I was actually more than ready to break my ties with them and let them move on to other teachers by the end of their freshman year. Having been through that experience, I figured future 8th grade classes would not cause me much mental or emotional anguish when they inevitably moved on. For 3 straight years I was right... but I already had a feeling it would be different in 2017. I don't know what exactly makes your class stand out so much to me. I have tried to figure it out so many times. Were you smarter than the previous classes? Funnier? Did you work harder? Were you more responsible about turning work in? Were you better behaved? I don't believe any of those things can be objectively judged in a group of 120-something unique individuals directly compared to a different group of 120-something unique individuals. None of those are the reason. To be honest, I still don't know what the reason is... but for WHATEVER reason, I have so many deep bonds with so many kids in your class that it makes it tough when you all walk out the door together one last time. Moving on to high school is natural. I suppose wanting to hold on to all the positives from the last two years is natural too... It just sucks to think that they're no longer daily activities and are instead being shuffled to the memory banks. So here I go, filing them away... into the happiest storage area of my brain. I'll always remember the academic things... the first M.U.N.A.F.L. project, the land bridge, Saving the world from the impending zombie apocalypse, Colonizing Africa, as well as taking the role of Africa's farm families, The first ever season of FANschool, PSA's about what to do with the Amazon Rainforest, Some of the best food in the history of the Cultural Fair, Taking a Europe learning celebration in heavy metal clothing, Debates over which World War II era aircraft or weaponry was best in various scenarios, Study Hall grade checks, Trench Warfare dodgeball, And DBQ Essays! But school... ESPECIALLY middle school... is about so much more than academics. All the little things matter just as much as your academic success. So even more so than everything we learned in the Geography curriculum, I'll remember how we got to know each other as people. I'll remember your interests, your stories, and how you got to know me even better than I got to know you. I'll remember the goofy things, the extracurriculars and the laughs. I'll always remember... Discussions of the NBA's G.O.A.T. with more evidence and reasoning than any school essay, and I remember laughing at the constant assertion that Brian Scalabrine and JaVale McGee belonged in the conversation, Food taxes, and getting generous chunks of Reese's broken off for me, Talking about everything from hip hop to which cars are coolest on bus rides from Brodhead, Coming to 5th hour drenched in sweat because I was a card-carrying member of Team Try Hard at lunch recess football or basketball, The critical advice that before one forms an alliance, one must squad up first, Tristianity, The Peanut Gallery, My fist-bump buddy, The crime-procedural drama called "Betley and Key", The Disney Channel original series called "Abby and JuJu", Quizzes about who's birthday is coming up when, Wagering classcomp points on deep shots with the Nerf hoop, Finding Donald Trump in the Little Rascals, Haircuts like Iceman from Top Gun, Grey's Anatomy parody videos, COUP, Risk, Exploding Kittens, Pandemic, Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, and every other thing we played in strategy club... and watching "Important Videos" on YouTube when we weren't playing, Cordell's Corner, Twin Life, and everything else from WTMS Channel 17 Season 1, Throwing my own shoulders back and high jumping vicariously through you, An Instagram scavenger hunt at the Milwaukee Public Museum, A night at Club 17 (which I guess could also be considered academic), Writing an iSpy Cold War parody together, Fart noises from the other side of my backyard fence, Playing with my kids at the park and sitting next to them at football games, and perhaps the best way to sum you all up (at least for your 7th grade year)... Happy Adventures I'm sorry we didn't have more time to talk about this when we had the time at school, but I do truly appreciate all the gratitude and emotion many of you shared with me before the year ended. At first i made me feel worse about not sharing everything on my mind when I had you all sitting right in front of me, but in the end it is what inspired me to write this and make sure you knew how I felt. Even compiling a list this long, there's no way I got even close to everything I love about you all. What did I miss? Comment below... I'd like to make sure that the files in my memory are as full as possible now that these will no longer be daily activities for us.
1 Comment
Sam Wells
12/28/2017 08:40:20 pm
At a party right now, could be getting lit but instead we are here crying about this.
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AuthorJohn Honish: Archives
June 2021
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