an ode to the 2025/2026 school year

 

Happy Thursday, friends! I am limping through this week...I have almost made it, though, and I've never been so glad. I thought I'd share some funny moments and highlights from a great school year. I hope you enjoy this! 

Things I've enjoyed that have made me laugh:

• my dear friends and co-workers: Karen, Heather, and Carla
• lunch with The Lunch Bunch everyday in room 304
• the hilarious second graders...and the things I've heard out of their mouths 

I'm stopping with the bullet points to expand on this one! I'll never forget the day my little friend A walked in and realized he forgot something. He threw his head back and yelled, "Damnit!", and I about lost it with laughter. I got to where I could hardly look at Karen when this kind of thing happened, because we'd both end up dying laughing.

There was also the day that he was in the bathroom for an extraordinarily long time and told me to come here to see something. Um, no thanks, little bud. It turns out he discovered that when you flush the toilet, the pipes move back and forth, and that was what he wanted to show me. 🤣

There was the time my little friend C asked me who the man on my phone was: it was Chris. She asked if he was my husband and I stammered out a "no"...then she kept asking who he was. I finally told her he was my boyfriend, and she was thoroughly confused and asked me if I'd been married, and now I wasn't because my husband was mean to me. I couldn't keep it together! I had to leave the room for a minute, I was laughing so hard. 

Another day Karen and I were laughing because of a little friend kept murmuring under his breath that he wanted to kill me...all because I was making him participate along with us. 

• discovering my friend Kat is a weather freak
• enjoying the many, many texts that we've shared through the year

Things that I've loved: 

• all the things I listed above
• the co-workers I've gotten to know
• the outings we've shared
• the admin staff
• the fun we've had throughout the year in various situations

This is one example; I took this yesterday during my morning car line duty. I love that they do this for our students! You should have seen their smiles. 

I have loved my first complete school year. I loved starting in August as opposed to January, when I started during my interim stint three years ago. I loved getting to know a new group of people that feel like extended family. I loved almost every morning I spent opening car doors for kids and greeting them with a smile, sometimes a hug, and a "happy (insert the day of the week here)". I loved getting to know the precious students and their families; I will always consider it the highest honor to be even a tiny part of their lives. I've loved seeing the lights go off in their brains as their reading skills improved, and I've loved hearing them learn how to read out loud with more ease. I love hearing kids greet me everyday and waving wildly like we haven't seen each other in weeks. I loved random hugs in public when I'd run into one of them. I loved when they would get my name wrong and call me "Ms. Loyal". That's so much better than Ms. Lloyd! 

I am thankful to have received such kind words from parents, co-workers, and admin this year. I was given the Eagle award of excellence earlier this year, and some really kind words were said about me. I've had two incredible evaluations from my friend and principal; I will miss her greatly next year as she starts a new endeavor within our district. I have loved learning something new, and my friend Karen has taught me so much. I will go into the next school year with a lot of knowledge under my belt, so to speak. To say that I am thankful for all of this and a job that I so dearly love is the biggest understatement of the year. 

God has been good to me; He is faithful. He has never once left me to fend for myself; in His sovereignty, He has provided for me everything I need and more. All praise and honor to Him as I remember this and remind myself of it as I wait to hear about my summer work plans. I look forward with excitement to all He has in store for me! What a privilege to get to live life with Him by my side. 

Thanks for reading my blog and for always being an encouragement! I'll see you back here tomorrow. Love to all!

Jenn