For those of you who don't know, I'm an elementary school teacher. We won't be going back to school this year, which means I never got to say goodbye to those 26 kids I shared 3/4 of a school year with.

Anyway, I wrote a poem to express my feelings and posted it on Facebook. When I woke up the next morning, a news station had gotten a hold of it and put it on their Facebook page (our channel 4 here in the New Orleans area). It was shared quite a lot (in my opinion, at least). It made me super happy, because I hoped parents and children alike read this and realized how much the students are missed! Anyway, I wanted to share it with you!

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To my students, from your teacher, on the day I realized we won’t get our goodbye:


I thought about you today, and the memory brought a smile.
I still remember your faces and laughs, although it’s been a while.

The classroom is just as we left it, and your desks are all in place.
But no one is there to disturb the dust or fill up an empty space.

There are crayons left to color with, and there are stories left to tell.
There are math problems left to figure out, and there are words left to spell.

There was much more I wanted to teach you. We had so much left to do!
But on the eve of April the thirteenth, I found out that we were through.

“This can’t be!” my heart seemed to shout. “Our time can’t end this way!”
“Is there something else that I can do? Something more that I can say?”

Then I thought about you once again, and my heart knew just what to do.
I thought about the things you’ve given to me, and the things I’ve given to you.

You see, each time a student leaves our room, a piece of them will always stay.
It’s a laugh, a smile, or even a hug. It’s just something that brightened our day!

There’s a big adventure just waiting for you beyond our classroom door!
Remember I’ll always have faith in you, and I’m confident you will soar!