And another year comes to a close.....

I was told this past week that this graduating 5th grade class was a holy terror in 1st grade....thanks for the heads up!

With the loss of our beloved P.E. coach, Janice, last July, who was the heart of our school and millions of over-sites and miscommunications (NOT ON OUR PART), pre-teen drama, and children getting to run the show, it has been a very stress filled year. I wouldn't have made it through without these ladies by my side to vent to and depend on.

Three of the six of these lovely ladies are moving on. I am on the left. Teela is next...she is moving to Arizona. Bev is in the middle...she is retiring...LUCKY DUCK! Then there is Rosa, who is moving to another school. Finally, there is Michelle and Sara. We will be the only three left of the group. Michelle and I have been at Mary Ann Binford Elementary for a number of years and Sara was a student of mine and Bev's. This is her first year teaching and she just had a baby too.

We ate lunch together EVERY day and got along amazingly. We laughed and cried together, covered each others' classes, gave each other ideas, planned together and supported each other, much to the disappointment of some, who wanted to see us fail. Although we will not be allowed to continue 5TH GRADE ACADEMY next year, WE all felt that it was a great success and 80% of the kids and parents thought so too.

We had these t-shirts made to show our solidarity! Those who wanted us to fail felt that we were full of ourselves and called us the 5TH GRADE MAFIA. So that is how we came up with the t-shirt design.

On the back it just says, "BUMMER!" (I Zentangled it!) We used this phrase so much this year that the kids started using it too. "I didn't do my homework," and our response, "BUMMER!" "I forgot my permission slip at home," and our response, "BUMMER!" "I was at the bingo hall with my mom all weekend. I didn't get to finish my project," and our response, "BUMMER!" You get the idea. This group was so full of excuses, as to why they didn't do their work, that it became our daily mantra.

Today is our last day of school and then we are off for about 6 weeks. I AM SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THE SUMMER! Please read between the lines...this is all I can say!