Tomorrow is our Farewell Assembly for our grade 7’s. The class of 2012 are ready to spread their wings and go off to High School. We wish them luck.

Every year at this time I work on my farewell address to the grade 7 class.

I sometimes quote Dr. Seuss – “Don’t’ cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” I can’t use that this year, as my blogger on the Cleveland Student blog used it for their last post.

I have quoted Emerson – “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

And I have quoted Thoreau – “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”

This year, we have 75 students who are leaving us, and this means the audience would probably appreciate a shorter speech from the Principal. I can do that, but I think I will use my blog to say something to those grade 7 students who read this.

Dear Class of 2012,

Thank you for all of your wonderful contributions to life at Cleveland School. As this was my first year at Cleveland, you will always have a special place in my heart, being my first grade 7 class here.

As one gets older, time seems to move at a different rate than when I was in grade 7. This year flew by, but I am not sure it always felt that way to you. Now I have to get ready to say goodbye, and if I shed a few tears, try not to give me too hard of a time.

September saw me working on memorizing your names and getting to know each and every one of you. I mixed up names for the first part of the year, but after a while, I got the names correct (except I still sometimes call Alisha Ally – sorry). September also saw basketball season, and many of you took part. I enjoyed every game I was able to watch, although it was hard not jumping in and help coach.

By the end of September, you became used to me visiting your classes and asking about what you were learning. I appreciate that you were comfortable asking for help with math and other work. I was most proud of the day when I was correcting some of your spelling in French. 🙂

The playground was always active. Mrs. Orr and myself were fans of older students going to play on the primary side, and many of you took advantage of this. It was great seeing you role model for younger students, and seeing the smiles on your faces helped make my job more enjoyable.

There were some behaviour challenges along the way this year, as well as some mistakes made. Those stories won’t be shared here. For those of you who made mistakes or made school challenging at times, I appreciate that you tried your best to not repeat the mistakes, or worked to make amends and help people regain trust.

I was introduced to the grade 7 craft fair, something I have never seen. You all proved to be very crafty (I know – bad pun) and created great Christmas crafts for people to buy. Many of you sold out very quickly. Well done.

This year you met Jesse Miller of Mediated Reality. I hope you remember his lessons. You live in a world of social media and texting. Please think before your text, respect each others privacy, and be good online citizens.

The year continued to fly by. Many activities happened throughout the year that kept you busy. Volleyball, band concerts, string concerts, painting chairs for a fundraiser, snow tubing, a spelling bee, tech committees, year book committee, math challenges, concours d’art oratoire, student council, pizza lunches, lunch monitoring, assemblies, gymnastics, visiting Handsworth, Jump Rope for Heart, Fun Day, Bike Week. I forgot to mention all the math, language arts, science, social studies, music, art, drama, health and career, etc.

Many of you were busy with activities outside of school. Some of you shared your successes with me, and in some cases, I heard about how good you were from your parents. It is always a pleasure to hear about your accomplishments outside of school, as well as witness all your good work in school.

The year is drawing to a close, and I think I have gotten to know most of you fairly well. I believe I know more than just your names, and was happy to play a minor role in helping you be successful in school.

This week marks the end of your elementary years. You are all growing up. I will have more to say tomorrow during the Farewell Assembly, but I will leave you one more quote:

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ~ Maya Angelou

You made me proud to say I was your Principal. Thanks

Take care.