Last days

The Stenfeld-Dunn family is officially on summer vacation! Well, I'm half way there. I'll be working until July and then I have a glorious month off with no responsibilities.

For the first time in 8 years, Aleks isn't teaching a summer course and we're all looking forward to a slower pace. There have already been lots of trips to the gym, composing, and reading already happening.

My first born finished her year off strong, getting the most AR points in her class. Which means that she read a lot of books and answered a lot of questions correctly about those books. Apparently, she's also doing math at a third grade level, which shows an immense amount of improvement as she started off the year considerably lacking in math skills.

Along with improving her reading and math skills, Maia also took great strides in demonstrating perseverance and discipline. And, if I'm being honest, I care more about those character qualities than AR points.

Mrs. Camacho decided to retire this year after a long teaching career. I'm sure some of Maia's classmates helped make that decision.

We emptied out Maia's backpack and found all of this. Someone somewhere has really instilled in her the importance of reusing broken materials. 

The end of school always catches me off guard with its finality. Those last weeks of school we're pushing to get it all done, deep in the routine of the year and then, wham! it's all over. It's such a defined, tangible event that points out the growth my kids have experienced. Which is wonderful, but also involves a sense of loss.

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Ruby has had a wonderful year. I've seen exponential growth in her ability to control impulses and in emotional maturity. She's always been a very determined child and this year Ruby was able to channel some of that focus into school work. She particularly enjoyed completing work job cards and would proudly tell me about her progress each day.

It was especially difficult this year to say goodbye to Ruby's teacher. This woman is an angel on earth. She is a huge cheerleader for all the kids in her class, celebrating who they are and the accomplishments they experience. Her humor, patience, and wisdom have helped Ruby, and all her classmates, thrive. Teachers like Mrs. Burcham are the ones for whom monuments should be built.

About half of the kids in Ruby's class are staying at Collegiate for kindergarten and the other half are moving to other schools in the area. It's sad to see this group going different ways after being together for the last two years. They are especially bright and fun.

For me, one of the special things about Collegiate are the hallways, where the moms and dads wait to drop off or pick up. It's there that we share parenting joys and struggles, support each other through devastating circumstances, laugh about funny incidents, become friends. I'll miss these women and the privilege of checking in with them each day.

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I also experienced a last day at WSU. The semester has been over for a few weeks, but I've been slowly emptying my office having been asked to be out by the end of May.

Out of the 3 different offices I've had at WSU this one, by far, was the best. The gigantic piano was hard to control at times, but by the end of this year we had begun to get along. In the future I'm excited to visit the school as a guest, free of the baggage that had begun to weigh me down.

The last day of anything always means its the first day of something else. Here we go!