Another school year comes to an end

 

I've had time during the past two weeks to pack items from the recently completed school year, start a few of the summer projects my wife planned for me, and even reflect a bit on the nine months that were the 2023-24 academic year.

It was a good year from my perspective, which is to say that student behavior and conduct was above average and what one would expect from middle school students in the post-pandemic years. 

In fact, in the school where I have worked for the past eight years, student behavior was much improved from the 2022-23 school year, which saw some of the most disruptive and anti-social student conduct in recent years.

The least said about the years immediately following the pandemic, the better, in my opinion. I'd much rather discuss the present, and in that regard, our current crop of students performed quite well in most respects.

Our 8th graders did well throughout the academic year, finished on a strong and positive note, and now enjoy a summer break before starting as freshmen at the high school in August. I will miss many of them.

The 7th graders, the most troublesome and disruptive group of students during the past year, will move on to the 8th grade. Perhaps many will mature during the summer break. We'll see about that in August, when they return for the 2024-25 academic year. 

The 8th grade typically is my favorite group of students. They can be challenging, particularly the boys, but they also often are bright, engaging and can be very funny at times. 

Last year's 6th graders will advance to the 7th grade, and I hope they will continue to be the well-behaved, good-natured group they were when I last saw them. I can hope for that, but if they are anything like previous groups of 7th graders, the seats in 7th-grade lunch detention will be full year round.

The end of the school year saw 10 teachers in our building and more than 20 others throughout the district retire, an usually high number. I will miss those who worked at the middle school. However, they've earned long and peaceful years of rest.

Five other teachers, younger members of the staff, left to accept positions in other districts or to pursue opportunities in other fields. I wish them well.  

My wife has a list of summer projects for me. I have completed a few of them, but have more work ahead of me. There are several books I have started to read, and I hope to complete them during the coming weeks. I also aim to write a few essays, so please watch for those. 

I hope you will enjoy your summer. 

-- Thank you for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment or question.