Today, I decided to visit my elementary school where a celebration was taking place. The two teachers that taught me when I was in sixth grade were finally retiring. I don’t mean “finally” in a bad way. One of them, Mr. Pete, had been teaching at my elementary school for twenty four years. The other, Mrs. Henkel, had been teaching there for the last seventeen years. That is a lot of years. I graduated from elementary school in 1997. Mrs. Henkel was my primary sixth grade teacher, and I think Mr. Pete taught me math that year. That feels like a long time ago.
Anyway, the school itself always feels so small now. I hadn’t been back there since I graduated from high school. After our high school graduation, we had an elementary school class reunion. I went to a big high school, so it was easy to lose track of people. It never ceases to amaze me that teachers always seem to remember their students. Well, there’s a caveat for me…if they don’t recognize me at first sight, they recognize me at first sound. One of my teachers actually told me today that she thought my voice had gone up in tone a little. I guess I don’t sound like a frog anymore! Huzzah! It was pretty funny to have both Mr. Pete and Mrs. Henkel recognize me by my voice. I’ll admit, it is somewhat low for a girl.
This retirement party for my former teachers ended up being a trip down memory lane. There were so many people there that I hadn’t anticipated I would see, that I hadn’t seen in a very long time. There were several other teachers who had retired years ago, former neighbors, former classmates, parents of kids I babysat back in the day. It was crazy! But so great to see them all.
I absolutely loved my elementary school, and always remember it fondly. My teachers were all so creative, and so passionate about what they did. It got me started on a great track in life, and I will forever be grateful for everything they did for me.