“On the Monday morning before the Friday that was the last day of school…”
Hmm. It seems like the book Pauline was reading to us was, in fact, about us. The book was called “Last Day Blues” by Julie Danneberg. We didn’t have this book in our Ohana library, so Pauline got a special e-book for us. The timing couldn’t be more perfect- it was our last week in Petals Class this week. The same goes for the book!
The children in the book have a teacher called Mrs. Hartwell. Their teacher has been telling them how much she will miss everyone, and the children, in turn, will miss her and the things they do in school, too. They seem excited for summer break (Just like us!), and they are thinking of ways to cheer up Mrs. Hartwell. They wanted to give her a present, and on Friday, which was the last day of school, they came up with a beautiful letter where they listed down the things they will miss about school- but, most of all, they will miss HER! They also made some wonderful drawings on it. Then, it was time to say goodbye! The children imagined that Mrs. Hartwell and all the teachers in the school will be sad and crying. They thought it must be difficult to be a teacher as you will always be sad at the end of the year. When everyone has said goodbye, Mrs. Hartwell returned to an empty classroom. She said she will surely miss everyone….. But, she was also excited for summer break!
Eh… what?!
The next few pages of the book showed pictures of all the teachers in the school wearing leis around their necks and dancing in a conga line inside the school. It also showed teachers vacationing while riding the boat, relaxing on the beach, or just lazily dozing off at home. We saw our own teachers exchange grins at these pictures. Aha! So it’s not just us who are excited for summer break! Hahaha!
After reading the book, our teachers explained to us that by next Monday, some of us will go upstairs to Flowers Class, some will go on early summer vacations, and some will go to the big school. Pauline asked us how we will feel when we leave Petals Class.
H: I’m sad.
L: I’m going to be happy.
R: Sad because “The End”…
A: Sad
C: Sad. I like Lea. I miss Lea because Lea going to big school
H: Sad… I’m going to cry over here.
C: I’m going to be sad. I’ll miss Petals Class.
L: I’m going to miss C because C is going to Flowers Class.
S: I miss teachers.
R: Sad. I want to play Lego.
K: Sad.l because I like O. O is going to ASIJ, too
O: Happy! Anything!
B: Happy. (He agreed that he wanted to go to Flowers class)
After circle time, we requested if we could play musical chairs, so we grabbed our own chairs and put them in a circle (Which, actually looked more like a triangle). We always love dancing to the beat and can be quite competitive in playing this game! In the end K was declared the winner of the game, then we had our lunch.
That’s all for today. Tomorrow is the Tuesday before the Friday that is the last day of school…..
Love,
All the children in Petals Class
