Summer

I guess that only teachers get to savor the joy of summer with nearly the enthusiasm of students. This is the first year that I will be saying good-bye to students that I first met as freshmen. And this is the first year that I have had a student leave school due to bullying. This one broke my heart. He's a really bright, funny kid. Well-read and quirky, I met him as a freshman. He would come by and show me work he had done or talk to me in the hall when I was on duty. Polite and pleasant, just a decent kid. Imagine my surprise when he asked me to sign his yearbook this year, his junior year, because he was leaving. It seems that freshman year he was on the football team and a few of the "guys" decided to start a rumor. He tried to live it down, but it followed him to baseball, where he excelled and was on a traveling team. He quit that and did some other stuff, art club, science club, NHS, bowling, but these guys would NOT let the rumors die. Finally this year, he had had enough. He wants his senior year to be free of the innuendo that haunted him in class and out. So he's tranferring. I didn't know this was going on until now. But there were some coaches that did and they let it ride. And for that they should be ashamed. I was hoping he'd be in one of my advanced classes this year. He's just one of those students who actually enjoys learning. Sometimes I just wish kids would stop and see for a moment what they are doing to each other. As for summer, although this year has been pretty easy and productive, the last day left a bittersweet taste in my mouth. The glow is tarnished and I guess the idealistic hopes that I had for all of my students are just a little bit smaller in scope.