Feeling Sentimental

I had a wonderful day filled with typical end of year activities - lacrosse game, graduation party, and tonight I attended the Grove City High School commencement ceremony.

As you are aware, this is just my 3rd year at WKHS and prior to that I spent a year working as a counselor at Grove City High School. The way their counselors divide up the students is different than at Kilbourne in that they have one counselor assigned to an entire grade level of kids. So, in my first (and only) year at GCHS, I had the entire class of freshmen students who as of tonight are officially high school graduates. As my first group of students, they will always hold a special place in my heart. Tonight, as I sat in the auditorium at Vet's Memorial I could still vividly remember their schedule pick-up night, their first day of school, watching them at sporting events, seeing them in the halls, and eventually the day I told them that I would not be returning to GCHS the following year. So, to say that I am feeling a bit sentimental tonight is certainly an understatement.

It was great to see all of the kids walking across the stage and receiving their diplomas. The one heart-breaking part was with nearly every speaker who came up on stage they mentioned that this class had to overcome having 3 counselors. (After I left another counselor came in for just 1 year and then the last two years they were with one of my former colleagues.) Even though that sent my guilt into overload, for me personally, the best part of the night was in the midst of the chaos after the ceremony was over when I was standing out in the lobby area and had a chance to see some of the students. It was so crazy that I wasn't able to see all of them that I would have liked to have seen and personally congratulated, but hopefully somehow through the grapevine they will hear that I was there and know that I still care about them and wish them the best in the future.

In the picture I am with one of my friends/former colleagues Susan Galloway who is a counselor at GCHS and her daughter, Erin, who was one of "my" kids that graduated tonight.

On a totally different note, and neither of these two students are "mine," but I saw that today Kevin Metka and Johnny Price won the state doubles title in tennis! How awesome!