Safely Rest

When I was in the girl scouts, we learned the words to Taps:

Day is done
Gone the sun
From the lake
From the hill
From the sky
All is well
Safely rest
God is nigh.

The field trip today was great. The kids had a teriffic time, and despite the threat of poor weather, it turned out fine. We had a lovely morning on the beach and saw countless dolphins from the boat as it idled just off Cape Henlopen. Minor glitches were resolved without hitches and everyone was on their way home by 7 PM.

And so, on the last Thursday of the year, I thought I'd follow up on the kids I've mentioned over the last 3 months. Our student who had been exposed to lead was found eligible for special education and will receive a lot more support next year. He had a great time today, and at one point was buried to his neck in the sand, unable to move, but we assured him that no child would be left behind.

The student who sent the paper airplanes down to the street boy in Bangladesh was also the child whose dad e-mailed me about the trip insisting that his wife be allowed to come. His mother was lovely, and as far as I could tell, both mom and son had a wonderful time today, in fact, the mom asked someone to take our picture together on the boat, and I was happy to oblige. As an aside, no student lost a seat because she came on the trip. Everyone who wanted to go was able to come along.

The girl who forged her mom's signature has been out of school for over a week while her dad receives an experimental treatment at a hospital in NY, but her aunt drove her down so that she could go on the trip with her classmates. Everyone, student and teacher alike, was happy to see her and sorry to know that she may be out for the rest of the year. Before she left this evening, I made sure she got a copy of our literary magazine. The poem she wrote honoring her father's courage and strength is published there.

The boy who didn't need friends at school but only wished that people would be nice to him, didn't go today. He didn't want to. In the last couple of weeks, his teachers have noticed that he's been acting giddy, even manic. When the counselor called home, his mom told her that he's acting that way because he's so happy he won't be returning to our school next year. The family decided to enroll him in a correspondence middle school where he can work from home.

Both of the kids whose conferences I wrote about are still struggling. We send them to seventh grade with documentation of all the strategies we've tried and the hope that maturity will kick in over the summer to help them be more successful next year. They both had a grand time on the trip today, too. And so did I, but the last Friday of the year is looming, so I'll leave it at that.