Project 52: TWENTY-TWO

We sat so I could see their faces. I wish I had brought binoculars, though. I caught the eye of two students that I knew well. Beau, the one below looking directly at me, and Juan, who I didn't think would be there! (He went to a different high school, so I was shocked he was graduating with Turner...turns out he transferred back for his senior year.)

Alexandra invited me. We are facebook friends, and I have enjoyed catching up with her through the years. She was so sweet to make sure I knew about her final choir concert (which I attended with a fever) and graduation. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find her in the sea of graduates (see what I did there? blue? sea? get it?), but I did! I made a board for her, too. (Ohmygoodness, I just realized I forgot to take a picture of it!!)

Meet Albert. Such a great kid. He always has a smile on his face. He is in choir, too, and you should have seen this kid perform at the final concert. He was so much fun to watch! LOTS of expression. And check out all that bling! High honors, NHS, and whatever that medal is for. I'm so proud of him.

Meet Denia. Sweet girl. Go getter. I caught up with her a bit in the past couple years because I taught her brother (kind of the exact opposite of her!).

Meet Ana Laura. Sweet sweet sweet. She wants to be a teacher. She has always wanted to be a teacher. We need teachers like her. She will be great. 

And finally, Juan. He was the one I didn't expect to be there. Let me tell you a bit about Juan:

 Juan was difficult. I remember journaling about him in a teacher workshop early that first year. I just didn't know what to do with him. I called his parents, conferenced with him...etc. Then we read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, one of my favorite books. I transformed my classroom into Narnia. It clicked. A light turned on in his brain. He went out and bought his own book and read on his own! The movie came out that year, and I had all the 6th graders meet me at the theater on a Saturday morning. When the movie came out on DVD, Juan bought it for me!

Then, he didn't go to the high school that the rest of my kids go to. However, he volunteered at the big UIL meet that I was in charge of for my school! So, I caught up on his life once a year at UIL.

This year, I didn't teach. I didn't get to catch up with him at UIL. I didn't really think anything of it until I caught his eye at graduation. As the rest of the students were filing in, trying to find their parents in the crowd, and taking their seats, Juan and I were jumping up and down waving to each other! Made my day.

We're now facebook friends, and I'll get to keep up with him again! I posted this picture and a brief synopsis of what you just read, and he commented with this (forgive the grammar...I am a Language Arts teacher, not a miracle worker...):

You have no clue how much change you brought into my life, Mrs. Dalton. Everything you mentioned comes up to my head when I think "Ms. Rich". Every year after that when I walked into my English class i wished you were the one up there teaching!
Don't forget about French club! Haha. Seeing you from the stage at graduation really hit me. I was really exited you were there. I couldn't believe that I was really graduating. It felt as if it were just yesterday that I was sitting in your classroom listening you calling my parents. Or learning about conjunctions.
Thank you for all that you did to make me the person I am today! :)

Maybe this is why this year has been hard for me. Teaching was just so much a part of me. All of my gifts and abilities were used in teaching. I know I'll go back someday, but now I need to focus my gifts and abilities on my family. 

So. Yeah. Being intentional means keeping your promises...even if those promises cannot be fulfilled for seven years. :)