One Last Ride on the Big Cheese

The Big Cheese rolled out of here this morning at 7:07 a.m. on its final journey of the school year. They were a little slower and a little more tired than they were when this week started, but they had smiles on their faces in anticipation of one more fun day followed by a summer break. Mind you, now, that the Big Cheese was short one Martin passenger, as Caitlyn finished up yesterday and was snoozing peacefully while I herded Chance and Maisy out the door one final time. We whined over shoes. We whined over clothes. We fell in heaps and cried over all kinds of things. Chance and Maisy were pretty dramatic as well.

A school year in its final days, as I have said before, is a painful thing to watch. The kids are tired. The teachers are tired. The parents are tired and, in most cases, financially strapped because they write one check after another to the school system. Field trips and field days, award ceremonies and class parties. CRCT and final exams. What’s left, after all the fun and stressful stuff is finally over, is a very tired child, a very tired teacher, and a sense of urgency to just get the thing over with already. The last few weeks of school, to me, are a testament to why year-round schooling is never a good idea.
So here I sit, two of my students home already and the last one hurtling toward the house on the big yellow bus just as fast as that driver can legally carry him. He’s the one, most of all, who is looking forward to a lazy summer. It’s sad, really, that he’s the final holdout.

Mrs. Langley, Chance's third grade teacher, doing what she did best...encouraging him!

Yes, here I sit, pondering the school year that is closing with mostly affection and good memories. The few bad ones that stand out are being vindicated through some staff changes, and that’s all I’m going to say about that. But the good ones…oh, the good ones! The fun of watching Chance and Dallas battle for AR points all year, the joy of seeing my tenth grader bond with some really good educators while holding her head high against the not-so-good one; the pride I felt at all three awards days watching my little people accept their hard-earned awards. There was the excitement of educating another group of young children on the wonders of the praying mantis, and the pride I felt when they remembered so much from last year. There was the pride of serving on the WJPS School Council and seeing the parents, educators and business partners working together for the benefit of our school. There was the excitement of participating in the Braselton-Hoschton Relay for Life, cheering on the WJPS and WJIS basketball teams in the benefit game, and hearing that game dedicated to a very special person to my heart and to the heart of my child.

Maisy and her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Baker.

We are proud to have a copy of the first ever “Pandora’s Box,” the literary magazine of JCCHS, with our daughter Caitlyn listed as editor-in-chief. We enjoyed unprecedented wins with the Reading Bowl team, even having the opportunity to travel to south Georgia for the championship tournament. What a thrill seeing those kids hauling off that big trophy! We enjoyed a beautiful day in north Georgia watching Caitlyn participate in the Regional One Act Play competition, and enjoyed several performances of hers as Gloom in Cagebirds. It’s the knee, you know…it locks…rigid…
I am a lucky woman, and I know it. I have three children in school who love to learn and who seem to enjoy embracing their nerdy, eccentric, and even artistic sides. They are who they are, and for that I am very thankful. But I cannot close this entry without giving some credit where it is due. I didn’t think we could have as good a school year as we had last year. I didn’t think there would ever be anyone to fill the shoes of

Chance and his third grade teacher, Mrs. Langley

Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Langley, Mrs.Wilson and Ms. Chambers. And I was right…no one can fill their shoes. What I discovered, however, is that they were the beginning…the foundation that would hold my two younger students up for the rest of their lives, and that others along the way would add to that foundation and make them into the people they will become. Funny, artistic, musical Ms. Tinnell…with her violin and her books, her invention fair and her crazy, curly red hair. She’s not afraid to put on a grass skirt and tell me to shove another crumpet in Maisy’s mouth. The moment I met her and found out that she not only serenades the children on their birthdays with the violin, she has designs to be Manuelo the

Maisy and Ms. Tinnell

Playing Mantis for Halloween, I knew that Maisy had met a kindred spirit. And Mrs. Leitsch, with her smiling eyes and her obvious appreciation for the spirit of a young boy, encouraging and cheering Chance and his friend Dallas along the way in their reading war. Not afraid to tell my son when he’s being lazy, not afraid to push him just a little harder to be what she knows he can be. What a gem. I hope he’s made her proud.