I planned on writing another post dedicated to the people I worked with at Linden. In the end, it was the people that made the job what it was. I will get to this post, but today I wanted to put up a poem one colleague and I wrote and presented to our companions before we departed one last time today.
We both entered Linden the same year and we are both leaving the same year. We have shared similar feelings regarding this departure and our time at the school. So we felt it would be very cool to express these feelings and share our thoughts in a humorous, yet touching manner.
If I do say so myself, we pulled this off with flying colors. Although I struggled to make it through with a straight face, Jennifer remained stoic and we kept our captive audience laughing, crying and most of all, hitting home our point that they meant a great deal to us. We alternated stanzas and added a little flair here and there. At the end of the day, it worked as we hoped it would.
Understand we are not poets. So there are some rough parts due to the need to get certain points across and not enough time to smooth it out perfectly. And I removed particular names for privacy.
Here it is:
Twas our last day at Linden when all through the school
The staff was still packing and cleaning their rooms.
The boxes were filled and the cabinets were clear,
In hopes that our summer break soon would be here.
The children were done now, all playing at home,
While the teachers dreamed of vacations alone.
And Couch with her bag and Huey in his hat
Were saying good bye to this one and that.
When we both started at Linden in 1999
We thought that this teaching stuff would be just fine
Huey remembered days back in the annex
He lost count of the times he almost panicked
But quickly he learned how this new school would work
No longer was he freaked out by blood on his shirt.
Holes in the floor and chunks of ceiling falling,
Mr. Smith in the basement doing his drawings.
While back at the main building things were as nutty
With paper rooms flooding and (student), our buddy.
Wait a minute, Kathy, did I hear him right?
He needed to boo-boo but who’s gonna wipe.
The cops crashed the meth lab across the street,
A lockdown, no way! We had front row seats.
Mr. (parent) was greeted each day by Ms. Payne
Not sure what he had but he was insane!
Then finally one day we all said goodbye,
When the old building fell as the dust rose up high.
A new chapter at Linden was about to begin,
Now we had Hudson, would we all fit in?
Let’s count all the programs that we have had,
SFA, CMCD, Move It Math, Project Grad.
And then came LACES, and now we are STEM,
What comes after that? We’ll leave it to them.
Let’s not forget all the fun that we’ve had.
Line dancing, basketball, the retreats weren’t too bad.
There were Allen’s concerts that lasted two hours,
We didn’t care cuz the kids had music power!
Field days, PEAK free parties, and trips to the zoo,
Baseball games, COSI, and the parks, to name a few.
Now let’s not forget about the big adult fight
On the playground, after school. It was quite a sight!
Let’s pay respect to the ones we have lost,
House fires and shootings were a difficult cost,
It has been sad to watch staff members go,
We cried many tears because we missed them so.
But we always got lucky as new ones arrived,
Because all of their hard work made Linden strive,
We all know the work that we do is not easy,
But with all of your talents it seems more breezy
When Couch did the job share it drove everyone crazy,
Was she at work or just home being lazy.
Maybe she was counting the pennies galore,
or planning out ways to collect even more.
You got lucky to have Alli as part of the feature,
I heard that she makes a great lunch duty teacher.
To all of my teammates and committee members,
Thanks for the memories I’ll always remember.
When Huey’s team met in the hall it was far from a bore,
He and Yetts lived by the motto, "Less is more,"
We got more done with our backs against the wall,
Than the gossip our girls passed back and forth in the halls,
AYP, Proficiency, OAT or OAA,
Whatever the letters we were always game.
Gillam, Early, Baddeley, Jones, Harris and Harris, Marston, Huey, Smith and Yetts,
It didn't matter who was with us, we always felt 4th grade was the best!
As we walked to our cars, with no bullet holes,
We gave a last wave to the friends that we know.
To the Linden Family that’s always been true,
Thank you to all, and to all we love you!
Yeah, we knocked it out of the ballpark.
No comments:
Post a Comment