As the school year draws to a close, there are so many things to think about. All the successes and challenges we have faced in our first year as a traditional school, all the growth we have seen in our students, and all the connections we have made with people, will change after June. We won't be in our first year ever again. Teachers will assess and pass on their students to the next teacher who will help to push them along the road of learning next year. And we will say good-bye to our staff members who have become friends and team mates over the last few months. 

It is always great to celebrate the year's successes and to look back and smile at what we've accomplished. It's hard to look into the immediate future and contemplate all that we will lose in June - the Grade 7's, the dear Educational Assistants who have been laid off, our Teacher Librarian, our dear classroom teachers, and those families who are moving. 

Yet, we come back in September with a renewed sense of energy, new classes, and new staff. We move ahead, forging new relationships with our students, finding out the strengths of our individual staff members, and planning for a great school year. 

Whether it is the cutbacks so that I work 80% and have to scramble to just keep my head above water, or the general poor morale at all the budget cuts, or the sense that we as individuals are but cogs in a machine that is slowly grinding to a halt, the joy that I get from observing how children who were once surly and uncooperative are now eager to please, to learn, to lead, is what keeps it all worthwhile for me.