Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Tuesday Slice: Remember to notice

The last days
of the school year
are filled with

deadlines and
summer plans and
to-dos and
ceremonies and
taking down and
cleaning up and
storing and
throwing away

the minutes 
seem to be
thrown away, too

I need to
remember to
stop
and
notice

the gleeful faces
the sad faces
the ones with plans
the ones without a clue
(because the clues aren't there to find)

notice them
call them out by name
tell them
"See you next year!"
and
"You will grow so much
in middle school!"
and mean it

really mean it
so the ones 
without a clue
find one 
to hold onto.

12 comments:

  1. Slowing down and letting go has been on my mind in a big way for the last several weeks. Thank you for this poem!

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    1. The days go by so fast at this time of year; glad you are taking the time to slow down, too!

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  2. Such good advice you share. I especially like your line:
    the ones without a clue
    This past year like never before, I have felt like the one without a clue! I am hopeful someone will follow your advise and keep reaching out to me!

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    1. I hope you have someone in your corner, too, Sally. We are lucky to have admin that have put our mental and physical health first this year. So very necessary.

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  3. Yes! So important to take the time to end well.

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    1. Right? I polled each kiddo in the hallway yesterday morning, asking if they were happy or sad about the last day, just to acknowledge those feelings.

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  4. It's a bittersweet time, for sure - maybe more so than ever this year. You have such a knack for encapsulating and conveying the essence of things, Chris. We have survived - the children have survived. We need to stop and see and rejoice.

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    1. And I'm back on a campus, Fran, where summer isn't always seen as a break by some of our students. There are several who already know they won't be returning to our campus, and so are anxious about facing yet another new school next year. That, thanks to my military family upbringing, I can definitely relate to. Our counselors where kept busy yesterday just checking in on students.

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  5. Chris, your end of school year thoughts are real. I am remembering what my days were like and know that in many instances we forget to make those feeling lost comfortable before the leave.

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    1. We have wonderful resources through the district and community services that I pray our families will utilize over the summer break. I think we do a decent job of providing those safety nets, as long as people take advantage of them.

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