Up-and-gone, midyear. I’m writing this note to my friends and colleagues who know the feeling. Those of us, who, out of nowhere, were forced to say an early goodbye — though sometimes, there’s not even time for a goodbye at all. Thousands of school districts across our country are flooded with transient populations — kids who come and go for reasons we may never know. It’s a heart-wrenching reality of the job.
This thing we do — teaching — is tricky. We put it all out there for kids, pour into them, challenge and direct them, and sometimes, it feels like it was all for naught.
This note is to remind each of us that this work, in fact, is for something. Something big. Something that matters. Each of us has left a little piece of ourself in every student we’ve loved and guided.
As a teachers we say many hellos and, sometimes, too many goodbyes. If you’re faced with a goodbye this week or next, this month or tomorrow, I hope you remember that your work has made an impact. Your gentleness, kindness, and generosity of spirit will go with that kid, wherever he or she may go.