Watching students graduate is so bittersweet. All my pride in a job well done kicks in, but so does my sadness that I'm letting people go that I've grown to love. As a teacher, it is an honor participating in the growth and accomplishments of my students. Never forgetting that their growth is a decision and behavior they learn on their own, and their accomplishments are due to themselves, I find a sense of fulfillment in getting to be one of their coaches along the way.
The thing that's the hardest for me is that once they leave the doors of Vantage Point, I will never have the relationship with them again that I was once privileged enough to have when they occupied my classroom. But you know what, that's okay! The very essence of my job is to usher well-educated, confident, thoughtful, respectful, empathetic, ingenious kids into a fruitful and rewarding adulthood and then watch them fly away. It is loud and clear when that job is done because I find myself in the presence of people as remarkable as these three boys, and that's where I find the strength to let my students go.
Fortunately for me, and all of us for that matter, I can take solace in knowing that the most recent graduates Vantage Point is sending out into the world are as amazing as these three boys in the photo with Monique and I. If Kyle, Tony, Preston and the rest of our graduates this quarter (who I didn't manage to snap a picture with) are any indication of the heart of this next generation, then we're in good hands!
Rest well tonight, my friends, because this class is remarkable!
lovemaura
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