One of the activities we spend a lot of time on in the final weeks of school is honoring our staff and students. We present awards, issue certificates, begin to say good-bye to our retirees, and recognize our top-achieving students.

For our students, something new this year was our “academic signing day.” This was modeled on a tradition many schools have had for years, an athletic signing day, when student-athletes who have earned college scholarships gather with representatives from those colleges to sign the papers confirming their intent to enroll. This year we had a similar ceremony for our 15 highest ranked seniors.

And just last week we had a more traditional announcement, the naming of the class valedictorian and salutatorian. Spencer Carran will serve as valedictorian of the Class of 2008, and there was a six-way tie for salutatorian, among Russell Ault, Ranjit Ganguly, Jonathan Gordon, Ben Ko, Cathalee Soergel and Sara Vinson. My congratulations go out to all these students not only for their outstanding academic achievements, but also for being great kids. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting all of them, and I can see why their families are proud.

At a recent school board meeting we honored our retiring staff members. There are two especially notable retirees this year. Ed Keller, a music teacher at Central Elementary, is the longest-serving teacher in our district with 52 years of teaching service, the last 41 in our district. And Cheryl Hamilton is retiring after “just” 30 years. An outstanding social studies teacher at the Intermediate School, Cheryl was also a trailblazer, the first African American teacher in our school district.
 
We presented 29 Golden Apple awards to employees who were recognized by their supervisor for outstanding contributions to the district. And over the past two weeks I’ve been in every one of our schools, personally presenting one of my favorite awards, which we call the School Bell. These go to employees who have been praised in a letter (or often, these days, an email) from someone outside the district, usually the parent of a student. For each School Bell award I present I also read an excerpt from the letter. Let me give you a few actual samples from some different letters we received this year:

“This teacher is the perfect combination of structure, joyful learning, kindness, and respect. Our daughter has never once stated that she didn't want to go to school or complained about a bad day.”

“Where does one begin to express such gratitude to people who understand and educate special needs children? The fact that this teacher did not quit after two weeks speaks volumes.”
 
“I have never seen a teacher quite like her. She has an incredible gift in being able to conduct her classroom without raising her voice. It is amazing how the students respond to her.”

“Your constant love and admiration you have for teaching and how that has spilled over into the hearts of your students is overwhelming. You have been a mentor, friend and role model. You are a wonderful and special teacher.”

“I will never forget you and the care that you’ve given to my children. You are a blessing that God has placed in our lives.”

Wow. These are the kind of people we have working in our schools, and I am truly proud of them.

Published in the Fairfield Echo, June 5, 2008.