This class was very special to me. I came to Japan when they were first graders. So over the three years I have been here I have really seen these kids grow up. I would like to think that in my own way I have helped them move from being children to being young adults. I don’t know how important I will be in the overall scheme of their lives, but hopefully I have contributed to their betterment. I will really miss some of the kids.
This year I did something different than past years. Because I only have about five months left I decided to give out my email address to a few of my best kids. Usually that makes me uncomfortable. That just does not really happen all that much in American schools and since that is what I was raised in… Yet, in Japan it is a fairly common thing for students to email their teachers. A few of my friends keep in touch with their better students and I realized that I was missing out because I do miss my best kids. So I gave a few cards out. I have heard from two of my kids. We will see how long this lasts!
This year instead of having the kids stick around the school we had a little procession to a nearby open patch of land. They call it the “helipad” but I am not sure if this is ironic or this area will one day be converted into a helipad. Right now it is kind of park area. It was nice to be more spread out and in the open. I stayed there later than any of the other teachers so I was frozen when I got back to school.
All in all, it was a good end to my run. A big part of me wishes I was going out with my current group of second graders (who will become third graders in a few weeks) but I think about some of the kids that just graduated and realize I could have gone out with a lot worse of a class. I miss them!
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