Back to School

I'm currently subbing for my colleague's Algebra II class. Don't laugh. I'm not actually teaching new material. Rather, I'm monitoring sophomores who are taking a diagnostic.

I began this fourth year wistfully. Change occurs rapidly in the YES environment, and when you've been here as long as I have, you feel as if you've been here a couple of lifetimes. I got a little teary-eyed when I saw some of the first sixth graders I taught wearing a marked sign of their entry into high school-- the white uniform shirt. Greeting kids as they passed me on the walkways, I could detect undertones of excitement and awkward pride in a few. In others, it surprised me to sense the slightest hint of "I'm too cool for you now, Miss." And again, it surprised me to see a few, who were so rude and out there and rambunctious in 6th grade, were politely asking me which printer they should use to print out their summer reading assignment.

These are my babies. A huge part of me wants to see them grow up into beautiful, mature (and quirky!) seniors, just like the ones I saw walk across the stage this past May. Another part of me, though, is getting just a bit anxious. I'll be thirty years old when I see those 6th graders through graduation, and I'm not sure what else God has for me-- does he want me to wait it out four more years, or does he want me to move on to something else?

I don't know. In the meantime, September is stretching out in front of me. It's time to roll...