[As an aside, the video I took - including my first ever successful recording of the school song - I managed to accidentally delete. I. AM. AN. IDIOT. Oh well, one more year to get it right.]
I am really gonna miss this year's graduating class. Great group of kids... correction, young adults. Geez, I'm getting old. Onwards!
Not the most studious girls, but definitely two of the nicest.
Signing the albums/yearbooks. Nostalgia and natsukashii, ne... indeed.
Whereas these two young ladies below were two of the best English students. Smart, smart girls. And great senses of humor and personality too. The girl on the right earned the nickname "H***-Sensei" [name withheld due to propriety] because, when she was chatting in class [which she would, invariably] 99% of the time she'd be helping out her friends with English. And a simple "Good morning, sensei" would be enough to get her grinning and turn her cheeks red. Great kid. Easily one of my favorite students to teach.
Baseball team kids.
Class clowns, especially the boy on the right. Who had a remarkable ability to remember any English phrase that was not in the textbook or had to be memorized.
This young man spent 2 years eating, breathing and living nothing but baseball. And then his 3rd year he turned into a studying machine, kicking all sorts of ass. Of course, he did it so that he could get into HS and play baseball [which he succeeded at doing].
I was challenged to more arm wrestling matches with this kid than I can even count. He even managed to get me once or twice. ["But never when I was serious," said Rob's ego.]
This kid dug Jay-Z. We'd trade CDs. I'm simple. Great kid.
This young lady had a lot of... personality. A cheerful challenge, as a student.
Great basketball player, great personality, smart, smart girl. One of my favorite students. [But man, did I have a lot of "favorite" students this year.] She just radiated good humor, cheerfulness and kindness. Never in a bad mood.
This young man is a future politician. One of the most charismatic kids I've taught. Funny and smart.
One of my English speech competition kids. Great student, great girl. Very smart.
Another student who turned it all around 3rd grade year. I think she may have actually slept through every English class her first 2 years, but as her 3rd year started, with HS tests looming, she cranked it up several notches and really did well. Really nice girl too.
This young lady would challenge me to karate matches. Bit of a tomboy. Needless to say, anyone who challenges me to combat gets two big thumbs up. Awesome personality. Talented athlete. Smart. And next year...
...she'll be playing softball in HS with this young lady, who was the very definition of cheeriness and genki-ness. Always a smile.
Okay, enough pictures of my big white head. On to the graduation ceremonies.
I've got about 30 pics of kids receiving their diplomas that I managed to snap, and they all pretty much look the same. So here's just a couple. You can see them all at the link at the end, if inclined.
After the ceremony, the kids return to their homeroom one final time, and one by one they get to address their classmates for the last time, and say goodbye.
Tears of joy, tears of happiness, tears of sadness. The kids are pretty adorable as they say their 'thank you's and 'goodbye's.
And then everybody gathers for that "final" final pic.
I only wish I could've got a pic of all the classes that way, but since everyone finishes up at their own pace and at different times, it wasn't quite possible.
Showering the homeroom teacher with flowers on the final walk out of the school.
The last baseball team shot.
The one time the kids don't really want to leave school... when they're all finished, forever.
All the graduation pics I took, and there are a bunch, are here:
2008-03-14
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