My kids....

I didn't really care for my graduating class last year. In some cases, the feeling was mutual. I found out last year that something my mother always told me......was true......you loved your kids but you didn't always like them. That's the way I felt about my 8th grade last year.
This year is different. My 6th grade is tough but likable with some amazing kids who are capable of real growth as young people. Same with my 7th grade. Good kids, capable of much.
But my 8th grade this year is special. Hard kids but full of heart and spirit. We were at Graduation Practice the other day and they were doing their song, "Do I make you proud" and I am sooo not known for this but I was looking at their faces, and realizing all we've been through for three years -- the conversations in the "principals office," the meeting with parents, the laughter, the 2nd chances, the third chances, the laughter, the times they just wanted a hug, the times they amazed me in a classroom, the times my teachers stormed into my office demanding I do something, the times my teachers stormed into my office to fight for those same kids, the student cabinet meetings where they wanted a dialogue, their willingness to work hard, their hurts, their happiness, their willingness to stand up for themselves and each other, the fights, the hard truths they learned about themselves -- and I had to walk to the other end of the auditorium. I had started to tear up. They noticed. At dimissal they came up to comment on it and poke fun. I didn't deny it. We laughed. I have struggled to put the people in place to grow a safe environment for students to learn in, and I really just hope they know, that we have told them enough , how special they are. That's why I was tearing up. I hope they know.
At their prom last night, we ended the prom with "Do I make you proud." Boys and girls tearing up, hugging. Kids who were fighting a week ago, hugging. There wasn't a dry eye anywhere. Such a special moment. I stood in the middle of it all. And applauded them. They've earned it.