Friday, the Last Day!

Friday morning we all knew it was our last day at the school. As we drove to school I gave myself a pep talk about being strong and not crying when the kids say bye. Friday was their fun day and they basically had fun activities all day. The three third grade classrooms switched classes so that they all had an opportunity to go out of their class and try different things. In one class they had a movie playing and popcorn, another classroom had a crafts activity making bracelets, and the last class had a card making activity. It was great to see how happy the kids were with the activities!
When they were done with the three switches, they went to the computer lab and had an "arcade" there. The three third classes went to the arcade and had about an hour of play there. I loved to see how involved they were with the games. All the games were created and designed by the 5th graders and they were great! When they were done with the arcade, they went over to the yard to play in the moon jumps. The joy in their eyes was one of the greatest things about this trip. It warmed my heart to see how happy the kids were and how the simplest thing can make them so happy!

After lunch the kids came back to class and watched a movie. I sat back and observed them when one of my students came up to me with a card and said she was going to miss me! (: A little girl from one of the other third grade classes came into my classroom and said she was leaving. I got up and followed her out to give her a hug and when she turned around, she was crying! I leaned over and gave her a hug and she just kept saying that she would sell chocolates for me to pay for my hotel room so I can stay longer! I walked her to the office because her mom was waiting for her and when we walked in, her mom asked why she was crying and the little girl cried even harder saying she didn't want me to leave. I knelt down and said "You gotta promise me that you'll stay in school and go to high school! because it's really important" then she said, "I promise I'll go to college too, and I'll go tot Hope college!" I then looked up at her mom and her mom started crying. It took me so much strength to keep back my tears. I walked them out of the school and gave her one last hug and she wouldn't let go! Once they walked away, I began to tear up.

It was also hard to say bye to my other students because one of them kept telling me to just pay for the hotel to stay longer and that I didn't have to go back to Michigan. I loved the fact that many of these kids will probably never forget having me in their class! I know that this is something I will never forget!

A Spelling game created by the 5th grade class!

-Miss Jackie