Thanks to Covid-19, our school year ended a week early. We didn’t officially lose any days; we just eliminated the snow makeup days. Since school was not in session and social distancing was warranted, there was no school carnival. I don’t know that Mason missed that, but now the end of the year photo ops with each of his teachers were eliminated too. He has been subjected to this tradition every year for nine years.
Thankfully, the principal devised a creative solution. She hung photos of every teacher and staff member along a wire on the field and invited families to go down at their leisure. From the moment I proposed this to Mason, I knew it was going to be a hard sell. To sweeten my ask, I proposed a celebratory shake and French fries after we finished. He denied several times and said, “Mom, I am tempted because I love food, but I really, really don’t like school.”
And then he conceded. In my mind this was a sign of great love for his mother. I didn’t press him for a smile. I knew that would be going too far.
Kindergarten teacher: Mrs. Whetstine
First grade teacher: Mrs. Eberhard who is retiring now after a very long career at SJB (Unfortunately, this one is blurry.)
Fourth grade teacher: Mrs. Rogers
Fourth grade science teacher: Mrs. Davis
Fifth grade social studies and math and eighth grade religion teacher: Mrs. Bailey
In middle school, Mason began having core subject teachers.
Sixth grade Language Arts with Mrs. Hochmeister
Seventh and eighth grade Language Arts with Mrs. Hardesty
Science with Ms. Wade
Math with Mrs. Walsh
Eighth grade Social Studies with Mr. Lewis
Music with Mrs. Keepes
Computer Science with Mr. Bueltel
Spanish with Mrs. Smith
Art with Mrs. Barfield
Health and gym with Mr. Myers
Health and gym with Mr. Day
There were several other teachers that Mason had over the course of his SJB stint who were influential but have moved on.
After eleven years total, I have bonded quite closely with some of the staff.
The principal, Mrs. Flatt, learned Mason’s name her second day on the job when in first grade he fell off the monkey bars and had to go to the emergency room for staples. It’s hard to be anonymous after that kind of introduction.
Mrs. Keepes and I share a love for Starbucks and Tieks.
Mrs. Janney is my go-to historian and grammarian and an all around amazing soul.
Mrs. Barfield is my creative muse.
Ms. Masnado-Smith is the librarian, fashionista and bangle bracelet extraordinaire.
And lastly, Mrs. Hochmeister has a heart of gold and connected with Mason in a special way. She appreciated his wit, nurtured and encouraged him and kept me abreast of his progress. He worked hard for her and he respected her. I’m grateful we all had that connection.
In other news, I visited with my BFF Liz outside to celebrate her birthday, I chatted with Monique, Dad and Laynie, and I finally got to see Tiffany for a health and beauty treatment after twelve weeks. What a joy!
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