Looking Ahead...

This is the time of year when everyone's looking forward...there are graduations and weddings galore in May and June, and we all move ahead with excitement and anticipation.

That was the theme this week as I traveled to Yancey County to speak to new teachers and National Board Certification candidates in the historic city of Burnsville. I was honored to be the speaker for such a beautiful event; Yancey County Schools celebrates Beginning Teachers of the Year! There were five finalists for the award, and they all made presentations to the audience, highlighting classroom activities that ranged from PowerPoint slides developed by second graders to a high school digital newspaper. These teachers were definitely thinking ahead to their careers in teaching as they celebrated their first years.

And budget cuts didn't keep the Yancey County folks from having beautiful decorations: they just went mountainside and cut gorgeous rhododendron. The Burnsville Community Center was festive and celebratory, and I was happy to be a part of it!

Here I am with Patricia Fender, the Beginning Teacher Coordinator in Yancey County.

I spent the remainder of the week involved in testing at my school. "Involved" = walking in circles around a room of testing eighth graders for four hours straight. But I was happy to be back amongst my students who are about to leave for high school; it'll be bittersweet to say goodbye to them.

Speaking of bittersweet, I had the opportunity to watch 10 of my former students graduate on Friday. In 2005, I worked with all 63 of my eighth graders on the rigorous application process for the Josephine Dobbs Clement Early College High School housed on the campus of North Carolina Central University. These students had the opportunity to take high school and college courses simultaneously and graduate with a high school diploma and an associate's degree. Of the original 50 who were accepted, 10 of them made it through the entire program, and I was delighted to watch them walk across that stage this week.

Congratulations to Antonio, Keiara, Alejandra, DeAntwon, Dwayne, Christina, Iesha, Victoria, Alexis, and Kia!

The first three to burst through the doors as graduates: Antonio, Alejandra, and Keiara!

Here I am with beautiful Kia. She was one of several students who came to visit with my family at the funeral home after my father died in 2004. That visit was more special than ever because it was Kia's 13th birthday. She begged me to go with her family to Denny's to eat, but I had to stay with my mother. It was such a sweet gesture, though.