Today was a very special and cool day.

-I subbed for a 6th grade PE class at Pioneer Middle School. First of all, I love subbing for PE because I get to play basketball and just practice shooting. Plus, it’s nice to be outside. There’s always a few kids that like to shoot too, and it’s fun chatting with them.

-The really cool thing is, halfway through the day, at the beginning of 4th period, I saw Joshua, a kid that looked familiar. He was from Mrs. Lemos’ kindergarten class from 2015-16!!!!!! It dawned on me that class would be sixth graders now, and Peters Canyon (where I did my student teaching) feeds into Pioneer. OMG!!!!!!

-I checked the roster, and in fact, there were at least one or two students in every period that was from that kindergarten class. I saw Quintus, Ian, Charlotte, Bradyn, Jasmine, Ava, Brandon, Abigail, Joshua, Owen, Caleb, Shan and Mattin on the roster. It was such a flashback. And really surreal seeing some of them as bigger kids now. (I wish I realized this earlier so I could look for them starting period 1! )

-It gave me such a warm and fuzzy feeling to see the kids I knew as kindergarteners being tweens. WOW. Nothing shows the passage of time that way. They look different yet the same. It’s indescribable not seeing a person for years, then seeing how they’ve changed.

-When I came home, I was debating whether I should go to the school board meeting or not. I have been wanting to go because I’ve heard so much about it, and having extremists be the only ones who show up is a terrible idea. I am so glad I went! It went from 6-8pm. It was really cool to hear the discussion that led up to voting on the map. I definitely want to speak next time!

-I texted Laurene Moses because somehow, Marguerita was on my mind. It was really cool talking to her! I also went down the memory lane of reading the notes from the 6th graders from second-semester student teaching, realizing that they’re now seniors. It really moved me and made me feel old, but also proud in a way. It’s just amazing to get older.

I’m feeling very moved on this Valentine’s day, and glad that I have the gift of meeting and knowing so many people.