Goodbye Eagle Valley!

May 30th was the last day if school. This year it was also my last day of being a first grade teacher and my last day at Eagle Valley Elementary.

Instead of teaching, I will stay at home and "teach" Miles. It's such a blessing to not have to leave him every day. I'm so incredibly thankful that I'm able to be home with him. 

But even though being home is exactly where I want to be....I still knew the last day of school would be hard. I have taught 1st grade for 6 years. It has been a HUGE part of my life...I will miss it a lot. 3 of the other 1st grade teachers and I have been on the same team for 6 years...it's going to be hard not seeing them every day! We added some new members onto our team that I will miss as well! I love my team and admire them and even though I know I will still see them, it won't be the same. They are amazing teachers and amazing people...I have learned so much from them and cherish my friendship with them. 

My team 2013-2014: Kris, Carla, Michleene, Jennifer, Melissa, Me, Delaine

On the last day of school we had a faculty lunch after the kids left. At our luncheon our principal had each person leaving come to the front along with a "spokesperson." The spokesperson told the faculty a little bit about the person leaving. My spokesperson was Jennifer Frampton. She was hired the same year I was and this last year we both decided to go half time and shared a class. It was my BEST year. She is an extremely talented teacher and I learned so much from her. We had an amazing class this year...best class I've had my entire 6 years. No major behavior problems and just good, sweet kids. It was such a low stress year! Anyways...So I came up to the front and Jennifer wrote a sweet acrostic poem about me (totally a first grade thing!) This is the poem she wrote: 

J: joyful. Jackie always had a smile on her face. When she teaches you can see the joy she brings to her students and how much joy it gives her.

A: adorable, agreeable, approachable. She is simply amazing. No matter what she does, she is awesome at it. 

C: creative. Jackie is able to create fabulous documents. Just look at Teachers Pay Teachers or her blog! Even when she leaves we are still going to have her create all of our documents. She is just that creative! 

K: kind. Jackie is kind enough to share her creative documents with us. She is always willing to help with whatever is asked of her even when she is juggling a few other tasks. 

I: Inspirational. Watching her teach, I'm inspired to be more joyful, creative, kind, patient with my kids. I'm inspired to be a better teacher. 

E: Excellent. Jackie is truly excellent at what she does. I'm so happy I was able to co-teach with her and see what an exquisite teacher she is. 

So sweet. Totally made me cry. I worked with the sweetest people ❤️

We also said goodbye to our principal Keith Conley. He is being transferred to a different school. He was a fantastic principal...very supportive of his teachers and did a great job of creating a positive, caring atmosphere at our school. Such a good person who truly cares about the students, teachers, and parents. 

(I stole this from my friend on Facebook since I have no pictures of him.)

It has been an amazing experience working at Eagle Valley. I am forever thankful for the 6 years I spent there, for the friendships I made, and for everything I learned!