Thank You Notes

Let me tell you a little about my first year teaching. It was the year 2001; I was 23 years old and a bit naive. I started teaching 9th and 10th grade English at the second largest high school in Arizona. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and 3 weeks after school started, the tragedies of September 11th happened. I will never forget my 2nd hour class that year. I had 4 girls and 22 boys in that class. The boys were a handful, and that is putting it mildly. I had some rough and tough football players (a couple of them royal jerks), a couple of junior ROTC boys, a couple of computer geeks, and a few other interesting students. I thought they were going to go to blows on Sept. 11th, and they almost did. I also had Jeff in my class. I'm pretty sure that Jeff's sole purpose in life that year was to give me a hard time. He spent lots of time in lunch detention with me, and I spent lots of time emailing or phoning his dad. I remember one particular week, Jeff's dad called me to ask if he should let him go on a trip that weekend. I finally felt like I had the power. We spent lots of time getting Jeff to pass (barely) English. I got an email on Friday from Jeff. I almost fell out of my chair. It was short and to the point. Something like, "I'm sorry. You were always one of my favorite teachers, and I know I gave you a hard time." I've spent a lot of time regretting that I wasn't married earlier, but I realize that the alternative has been a great blessing in my life. I am so grateful for the years that I have been able to teach. I have learned some really valuable lessons, and I've been able to know some great students. I will never forget my first year of teaching, and most especially I will never forget those kids. I've run into a few of them. Some of them have been handed some tough blows, but it's nice to see how they handle life. It's nice to see them grow up into successful adults.