The final countdown

The past week and a half has been a bit disquieting. I've been sick with something like the flu -- started with a sore throat that prevented me from getting any sleep, to feeling stuffed up and sneezy, to coughing up a lung. I'm mostly better, and cannot believe that the school year has come to an end. Senior high classes ended yesterday, and I have just one more junior high class to teach tomorrow. Then comes supervising final exams, cleaning up classrooms, doing the year-end inventory, and finishing up the last report cards.

My summer plans have yet to materialize. I'm not trying very hard to come up with something this year. I've decided to let spontaneity lead me to something amazing, something potentially life-changing.

Here are a few things that have happened this past week-and-a-half:

1. I was asked by the principal to sit on a panel of interviewers for a new teacher. The person we had interviewed was hired, and I honestly think that he'll do incredible things next school year here. There is a deep sincerity about him. I have no doubt that he'll be frustrated with the students and with the school at various points, but his heart will guide him through it all. He's someone the kids will like and respect.

2. Last Thursday, in the midst of my worst flu symptoms, I volunteered to serve at a community dinner to benefit the school's breakfast program. The drama club performed after dinner, and that made it all worth it. One of the little girls came to give me a hug after her performance, and beamed when I told her she was just fantastically awesome on stage, and that she looked beautiful.

3. On Friday, a video that I had made of the school's activities throughout the year "premiered" at the school assembly. Unfortunately, I could not make it, as I was supervising my Grade 12 students in their Social Studies final exam. The principal came to me afterward and said that the video had made her cry, that I had captured the spirit that she wanted the school to have. I've since had numerous requests for copies of my video. I'm flattered, and would spend all those nights and hours tinkering away at video- and sound-editing again in a heartbeat.  (The principal has also asked if that was why I looked so tired all last week. Hmmm.... I didn't know that I wasn't my usual happy self. I blamed it on my flu.)

4. I received an e-mail from a second-year student in the Speech Pathology program in Edmonton. She advised that I should prepare myself for Anatomy class in the fall. Part of it involves working in a cadaver lab. I think I just about fainted when I read that. I'm the girl who could not dissect a frog in Biology class in high school. I avoided Grade 12 Biology like the plague because I knew that dissecting a fetal pig was part of the curriculum. I'm going to get some chicken thighs and debone them this weekend for practice....

This weekend, I'm going to go around town and take some photos (seriously this time!). Although Fox Creek has been my home for only five short little months, I don't want to forget it.