My summer vacation is officially here. Whew! It was a long and difficult school year. COVID and mask issues, adjustments to a new class of students who I had to get to know, being short staffed, new employees learning how our school program works and the tragic passing of a beloved behavior staffer made it a rough ride.
But we survived the ride and so did the kids.
IT WAS A CHALLENGING SCHOOL YEAR BUT WE MADE IT THROUGH.
Still, there were bright spots during the past 10 months. Six of my students graduated high school and another transitioned back to their home school. Several passed their Driver’s Ed curriculum and three more kids found and flourished in gainful employment.
I learned better skills in classroom management and how to help our students find their way through school and prepare for the ‘real world.’ Any teacher who says they have nothing new to learn about their profession is either lying or clueless.
This past weekend I partied it up a bit to celebrate the care free days of summer. Daily swims at East End Pool are tops on my list. As I noted in my last blog, it’s great to see my “summer family” again at the pool and my tan is already bronzing up. Nothing better than the mixed fragrance of chlorine and sunscreen at the pool. Woo Hoo!
As for my summer apparel, gone are the long black slacks, polo shirts, socks and shoes; replaced by gym shorts, swim shorts, T-shirts, no socks and either flip flops or well worn gym shoes, and walking around the house shirtless most of the time, thank you.
MY SUMMER TAN IS JUST STARTING.
Around the house, there’s improvements to do. Yard work, patching cracks in my driveway, cleaning up inside and a few repairs that are being delegated to professionals are some of what will happen.
I’ve got friends to see, baseball games to watch (and yes, I’ll nerd up and keep a scorecard for a bunch of them) and there are writings to work on.
Beyond those things, who knows what else will happen? I think the best part of my six-week plus vacation is that I can do what I want, when I want. No set schedules, no deadlines to hit, no reports to file. Just a free life. And not to bemoan how the school year went but this break is well earned and well deserved!
Here’s a fitting song to kick off my summer break. Cheers!
FYI- I’ll be back to blogging sometime in August to let you know how my summer was.