A Very Fond Farewell

Today is my last day in my grade one class.  I am so very honoured that you shared your children with me this year.  That you allowed the pleasure of speaking into their minds, into their hearts, and into their spirits blesses me beyond words.  I have watched them grow, change, learn, stumble, get back up again, and persevere.  I have heard them laugh, cry, pray, and question the world around them.  I am so proud of the year they have had.  I have met a future inventor, police man, a few teachers and vets, a scientist, an astronaut, some NHL players, police men, firemen, an artist, even a window washer and a princess! 21 little bodies who will grow up to be world changers!

When they came to me many of them could not even write sentences – yet we wrote stories this year.  Many were emerging readers with a basic understanding of letter sounds – yet we did guided reading and they learned to use strategies to become independent readers with a flair for comprehension.  Many of them were just starting to notice the world around them – yet we learned about communities, our bodies as temples, that insects and arachnids are spiders, some spiders don’t even have eyes, surface tension and coke and mentos geysers, that flower s have xylem and phloem and can change colours with help, we made roto copters and tested force and motion, went back in time to 1851 and learned about heritage and legacy (both our ancestors and the ones we are making right now), we did many taste tests and learned that although we are the same in some ways God made us different and that is what makes us special.

We learned that we can be bucket fillers or bucket tippers and that with the spirit of God inside of us we can MOVE mountains because he made us to be more than conquerors.  We learned that everything we put our hands to can prosper and although we can’t be Jesus we can be like him and change the world by changing ourselves to be more like Him! We know how much God loves us and wants good things for us.  We understand that the biggest hurdle in our lives is our ATTITUDE!  We never say “I can’t” or we can’t!  Our mouths have power!  We say “I can do all things through Christ who makes me strong!” We never fail unless we never try.

So, thank you – for your support, encouragement, assistance, prayers and most of all for trusting me with your most prized possessions!  They made this year AMAZING for me! I can't wait to see them again in Grade 7!