Today fourteen former Hershey students who are seniors in high school and going to graduate in two weeks stopped by in their caps and gowns to do a victory march through the halls of the school.
All the current Hershey students lined the hallways and we cheered and high fived them as they went by. It's a lovely way to celebrate our former students.
Mrs. Fields led the way.
I got hugs from the five who had been in my class as they went by, and was content with that, when to my surprise, they all came back!
Brock Butler, Taylor Martin, Kensi Eiler, Maya Painter, me, Meredith Roberts, and Adam Menard. (Taylor wasn't in my class, but her sisters have been, so she popped in to say "hi.")
Maya has won a full, four year scholarship to Indiana University! (She's also the 8th grader in the previous post and in the picture with Abby.)
I put out something I thought they would all remember.
Kensi, Merry, and Maya were delighted to see this old book.
It's my all-time favorite book. My 5th grade teacher read it to me, and I vowed then to read it to my class if I ever became a teacher. And I have kept that vow - reading it to every single class in my career!
After we finish reading the book together, the kids sign it. Here is the autograph page from when I read it to these students.
Maya was so excited to find her name.
Brock sat down with ZS to play a game of chess.
Adam watched as the play began.
ZS beat Brock, but Brock was a great sport about it. (I explained that I won't play my students as I cannot beat any of them!)
The former students walked around their old stomping grounds, exclaiming frequently in delight when they saw something familiar.
They shared memories and laughed a lot.
After more tears and hugs goodbye, I sent a picture of the students and me to my children, mentioning that I had cried when I saw the students. Curt made that into a meme.
Sure thing, I cried! But they were happy tears as I got to catch up with some wonderful young people. I am blessed to have been their teacher.
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