The end of a very short era

So this is the second-to-last day of school for me... half days, periods 123 today, periods 456 tomorrow. Time to say goodbye to the kids. For most kids, they sidle out of the room as if it was any other Friday, like they expect everything to be the same on Monday. But some kids get sentimental, hanging on for a few minutes into passing time, wanting you to sign their yearbook because they know they will never see you again. All the kids now know that I won't be back next year, and it's much easier for me to say now that the news is two months old. The kids won't be an issue, I think (although the Art Club did make me cry at our end-of-the-year party on Monday, but I think that is their job!)... but I will have a hard time saying goodbye to the art department. I want to make a clean break on Friday, so I don't get weepy or sentimental. It's not like I will never see these wonderful people again, but since this was my first teaching assignment and these people were so gracious and understanding of that, I am having a hard time thinking about leaving them.

At the same time, I am full of nerves and ecstatic longing about the next school year. My OWN room, a yearbook to advise, a newspaper to create, and my own art curriculum that will create the best program any single-A school has seen, I hope. My stomach churns at the thought of September 5.