The surprise ending...

I mistakenly thought tomorrow would be my last day at camp with the kids. But, tomorrow is their beach day...so today was my last time with them. Like an assembly line, kids move by you, and your job as their teacher is to fill them up with as much knowledge and skills as you can as they pass by and on to the next teacher. I don’t know who is the last one to close the box and seal it so all of the goodies don’t fall out, maybe their parents, but it is never the middle school teacher. I want to say this is difficult, but it is not. I know that I have never forgotten what my dance teacher taught me when I was nine years old, “Always give an audience a good ending. They won’t remember that you made a mistake if you give them a good ending.” This advice came after falling flat on my face during a dance performance. I still use this advice today. So, though I will probably never see these fabulous boys again, I know that some seed I planted this week will sprout into words that will replay at another time in their lives.

I am just sorry that I won’t have more time with them. The talented director was given the opportunity to direct today, the talented writer was allowed to plan his improvisation, and doubting Thomas volunteered to perform, first with me as his partner, and then, much to my surprise, in an improvisation with his peers. He felt safer and able to withstand their judgments, if they occurred...which they did not!

The kids had written and drawn good-bye letters and pictures for me, and I couldn’t stop myself from tearing up. See, here’s the thing about highly gifted learners who feel you genuinely understand them and want to help them...they are so loyal. There is nothing you can do to shake this loyalty once you have made it into their quality world. I once had a student who told me not to worry about getting old with no pension, he said he would be rich and promised to take care of me. Unfortunately, he has moved on to another school and I didn't get his new phone number.

It was a happy ending for all of us and hopefully, a new beginning for some. 

Tonight, courtesy of my CTG Fellowship, I am going to see the musical, “Next to Normal,” on Broadway. This will be my first Broadway show in thirty years. There is something magical about walking to see a Broadway show. It just seems so “theater of the people”-ish. It is how theater was meant to be...accessible.