Farewell Hunter High School

This was me yesterday.....eyes a little puffy and red and carrying a box of tissues all over at graduation. That box of tissues was my best friend yesterday as it was a very emotion filled day. Yesterday I said farewell to my Hunter High School family and the students that I have grown to love. I never thought it would be so hard to say goodbye to a place that sometimes drove me crazy and students that gave me a headache of all headaches. But as I was walking out of my classroom for the last time I lost it. It was there that I spent more hours than I did at my own house and there where kids were taught, yelled at and hopefully inspired. I am truly grateful for my 4 years of teaching experience at Hunter High School and all that I learned there. Here are a few things that come to mind....

- be friends with the Polynesian boys...they will always have your back!
- Sometimes you just don't want to teach....and sometimes the kids just don't want to learn. It's okay to show a movie!!! (and you can always relate it to history)
-make sure there is always a little bit of chocolate around. It is either for you or for a student. They have bad days too!
- Monday mornings the school ALWAYS stinks!
-Have a sweater around just in case (and remember that Kathy always has extras!)
- the kids will always know more about technology than me (and they are shocked when I say I do know how to run a DVD player)
-Assembly days are always crazy
-when you teach a group for more than a year, you will feel like they are your own children (thanks AVID class of 2011! It was a pleasure!!)
- sometimes you are more like their mom than a teacher
-and sometimes you are more like a sister
-and sometimes you feel like you are a drill sergeant!
-make sure you always have tissues and hand sanitizer around
- movies are a great thing especially around UEA, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break and the end of the year!
- Kids need motivation
-There are usually more kids that love you than hate you
-Graduation is so fun and exciting but sad when you are saying goodbye to what feels like your own kids!
-As a teacher, more good is done that you will ever know

I got this email from one of my AVID students and it explains exactly how great it is to be a teacher...

thanks miss stokes for always being there and believing in me when I didn't even believe in myself.. I was always worried about what my mom would think and what you would do when I was slacking... Thank for being a second mom to me... Thank you miss stokes!!

Thank you Hunter High School and every student I have ever taught. I am truly a better person because of my time there! I will miss so many things about that school and those 180 days of school. Thank you for teaching me more than you will ever know!