Harper's Graduation

The day I told my students--the ones that I had taught for both their sophomore and junior year--that I would not be back to teach them as seniors, I promised that I would be there on the day they walked across the stage to receive their diplomas. The fact that their graduation was precisely at Isaac's nap time and the fact that he had a cold was not going to stop me from keeping my promise.

Harper's graduation ceremonies are really fun. For a lot of the students, it's the biggest day of their lives. It is a huge accomplishment to make it through high school in the existent culture in that neighborhood, and the families are proud of their graduates.

A couple of my students are still mad at me for leaving, so it was hard to see them and have them not talk to me. But the others were excited I was there. One guy made it all worth while. He is going to college at Grand Valley State University in the town where I grew up! I am so proud of him! And he made it a point to bring his mom over to meet me. He said to her, "Mom, this is my 10th period English teacher--the one I was telling you about." She looked like she didn't know what he was talking about at first, but then he said, "She is that good Christian woman who gave me all that stuff." I'm not exactly sure what he meant by that, but his mom said, "Oh now I remember!" He went on to say, "Actually, she gave me a lot of stuff she doesn't even know about." Awww! Teaching those kids can be so rewarding sometimes. And when the rewards come, they are huge.

Here's a pic of me and the student. You can see that Isaac has just about had it and is ready to fall asleep. The guy behind me with the hat on was in my very first class! He graduated a couple years ago and is college now, so it was cool to see him, too.

Here's Spike about 30 seconds after we left.


Congratulations, class of 2008!