Today was the last day of school for me. It was a pretty good day celebrating with the 8th graders who somehow managed to survive 3 years with us!! It is amazing how many memories you can garner in 3 years. One of the speakers at the promotion ceremony figured out that it is over 3,000 hours together and I don’t think that includes things like the Wolf Ridge trip or Spain where we are together longer than the regular school day!!

There could be so many stories to share about this group of kids and watching the annual video brought back lots of memories from not only this group, but from others as well. It is amazing to see how the tiny 6th graders grow and mature into “big scary” 8th graders! Each year it seems like it gets harder and harder to say good bye!

One of the unique characteristics of my job is that I work with all of our almost 800 kids and support all of the teaching staff which is close to 50 people. So while we were celebrating the 8th graders I was also preparing for the other 600 kids to have an awesome last day too. Groups went to local parks and to the local movie theater.

I also had the privilege of taking 6 of my Bike Club kids on a final bike ride for the year! We went to Dairy Queen, saw the Minnehaha Falls, and Wabun Picnic Area. I also let them ride down the huge hill next to the Lock and Dam. One of the kids on the way back to school said, “Mr. Cross sure knows how to end the school year!”

My only regret is that I don’t have the time or energy to reflect back with many of the kids on their progress and growth during the year or the last few years. But all in all it was a successful school year.