End of Year Speech 2018
Five years ago I came to the coop as a 4th grader. I was the youngest, and definitely the baby of the group. The older girls braided my hair, and I constantly had somebody who was willing to read aloud to me, or give me a piggyback ride. Back then, the coop had only one teacher, Julia Skonicki, and she taught everything. The barn was an amazing place to have a school, and I remember making forts in the woods, baking pie in the oven, and dropping various pieces of fruit (and occasionally raw eggs) off of the hay loft.
Four years ago I was a 5th grader! Pretty much nothing had changed, except there were a few more students, and some new teachers! We had a new spanish teacher, a science teacher, and an art teacher. I ran into that spanish teacher the other day, and she seemed quite astonished at the fact that I’m going to high school.
Three years ago I was in 6th grade. This was the year where all the older girls had left, and I was now the oldest girl. It was a big change to go from being the youngest to being a role model. I spent quite a lot of my time with the boys, and I actually had more fun out adventuring in the woods with them than I ever had sitting and playing with the girls. Even though I was younger than them, I seemed to be the responsible one and was in charge of making sure nobody fell in the river. We played Capture the Flag a ton, and when we ended up playing boys against girls I frequently played on the boys team, to avoid having to be any sort of leader for the girls.
Two years ago I was in 7th grade, and the Coop moved to Richmond! This was a huge transition, and I considered not coming. There were so many new kids, and we had also just hired a new teacher. I ended up coming full time, and enjoying it, for the most part. I was definitely one of the older kids, and actually enjoyed being a bit of a role model for younger students.
This year, I’m in eighth grade. At the beginning of the year, I was a little concerned about the MAJOR TRANSITION with Jessie and Elizabeth. There was definitely quite the learning curve for all of us, but now I’m pretty happy. This year the Coop has seemed more like family than ever, and I’m super lucky to have such amazing “siblings” here.
The coop has really helped me with a lot of things, including confidence, volume control, time management, and talking about how much I’ve grown. Oh, and I’ve learned educationey things too. I’m glad I’ve had the time to learn in this supportive environment, and I’m sure these skills will be helpful while I’m in the fiery caves of highschool.
I’ve had over a dozen teachers while at the coop, and I can pretty confidently say that all of these 3 are in the top 5. I thank them a whole lot in every other thing I’ve prepared for tonight, but it’s sort of hard to say what you really feel when you’re trying to make everything rhyme, so I will say this:
Julia, I admire your ability to be very strongly yourself. You always seem so happy and full of life, and I will miss seeing your smile next year. I know I complain a lot about math, but honestly I didn’t really mind it that much, I just like to complain. Thank you for an amazing couple of months, and try not to miss me too much next year.
Elizabeth, (deep breath/sigh.) I don’t want to do this. I’m not going to say goodbye, but I will say this: I know where you live. (laugh)(...) For real though, I have learned SO. MUCH. From you. And I am going to try my best to make it really impossible for you to ever forget me. I am going to miss you a whole lot, and I am totally stopping into the farmers market every Thursday for a hug. I love your enthusiasm, and I love what a nerd you are, and I love how much passion you put into teaching, and I love so many other things about you that I’d have at least a 17 page list.
Jessie, I don’t have words for you… but I’d like to thank Sanya for helping give the Coop space a makeover, and also probably helping with lots of other things! (little laugh smile thing)
Okay, Jessie. You have done amazing things for me and for this school. I’m sorry it took me like 3 months to warm up to you. Your energy and happiness is what makes me bounce out of bed every morning. My mother is sitting there like, “she hates getting out of bed”... Once I’m out of bed, you’re a big reason why I’m excited to get to school. You really brought life to this school, and I am very sad that I’m leaving after just one year. I will be stopping in to the coop as much as I can fit into my schedule, so I’ll see you just enough for you to remember how much you miss me.
So, next year I’ll be going to Big Picture South Burlington, which is “a project-based program at South Burlington High School that seeks to engage and motivate students through independent learning & student driven curriculum.” I’m pretty excited about it and I already have a long list of project ideas. I think this should be a pretty natural transition from the coop, and I’m hoping to help create more of a connection between Big Picture and the Coop.
I also have a summer job at The Wild Center in the Adirondacks! I’m super excited about that, and can’t wait to come back and share what I’ve been doing with some of you. I’m getting the chance to work some of their exhibits and interact with people, and other fun things. Please come up and visit me, and also drive me one way?? I’m desperate for rides.
I’m excited about all these new experiences, but I’m sad I’ll be leaving. I’m planning on seeing you guys as much as I can, so don’t worry, I’m not going to graduate and then fall off the planet. It’s been an amazing 5 years, and I’m so glad I got to go to this school. Thank you.
Four years ago I was a 5th grader! Pretty much nothing had changed, except there were a few more students, and some new teachers! We had a new spanish teacher, a science teacher, and an art teacher. I ran into that spanish teacher the other day, and she seemed quite astonished at the fact that I’m going to high school.
Three years ago I was in 6th grade. This was the year where all the older girls had left, and I was now the oldest girl. It was a big change to go from being the youngest to being a role model. I spent quite a lot of my time with the boys, and I actually had more fun out adventuring in the woods with them than I ever had sitting and playing with the girls. Even though I was younger than them, I seemed to be the responsible one and was in charge of making sure nobody fell in the river. We played Capture the Flag a ton, and when we ended up playing boys against girls I frequently played on the boys team, to avoid having to be any sort of leader for the girls.
Two years ago I was in 7th grade, and the Coop moved to Richmond! This was a huge transition, and I considered not coming. There were so many new kids, and we had also just hired a new teacher. I ended up coming full time, and enjoying it, for the most part. I was definitely one of the older kids, and actually enjoyed being a bit of a role model for younger students.
This year, I’m in eighth grade. At the beginning of the year, I was a little concerned about the MAJOR TRANSITION with Jessie and Elizabeth. There was definitely quite the learning curve for all of us, but now I’m pretty happy. This year the Coop has seemed more like family than ever, and I’m super lucky to have such amazing “siblings” here.
The coop has really helped me with a lot of things, including confidence, volume control, time management, and talking about how much I’ve grown. Oh, and I’ve learned educationey things too. I’m glad I’ve had the time to learn in this supportive environment, and I’m sure these skills will be helpful while I’m in the fiery caves of highschool.
I’ve had over a dozen teachers while at the coop, and I can pretty confidently say that all of these 3 are in the top 5. I thank them a whole lot in every other thing I’ve prepared for tonight, but it’s sort of hard to say what you really feel when you’re trying to make everything rhyme, so I will say this:
Julia, I admire your ability to be very strongly yourself. You always seem so happy and full of life, and I will miss seeing your smile next year. I know I complain a lot about math, but honestly I didn’t really mind it that much, I just like to complain. Thank you for an amazing couple of months, and try not to miss me too much next year.
Elizabeth, (deep breath/sigh.) I don’t want to do this. I’m not going to say goodbye, but I will say this: I know where you live. (laugh)(...) For real though, I have learned SO. MUCH. From you. And I am going to try my best to make it really impossible for you to ever forget me. I am going to miss you a whole lot, and I am totally stopping into the farmers market every Thursday for a hug. I love your enthusiasm, and I love what a nerd you are, and I love how much passion you put into teaching, and I love so many other things about you that I’d have at least a 17 page list.
Jessie, I don’t have words for you… but I’d like to thank Sanya for helping give the Coop space a makeover, and also probably helping with lots of other things! (little laugh smile thing)
Okay, Jessie. You have done amazing things for me and for this school. I’m sorry it took me like 3 months to warm up to you. Your energy and happiness is what makes me bounce out of bed every morning. My mother is sitting there like, “she hates getting out of bed”... Once I’m out of bed, you’re a big reason why I’m excited to get to school. You really brought life to this school, and I am very sad that I’m leaving after just one year. I will be stopping in to the coop as much as I can fit into my schedule, so I’ll see you just enough for you to remember how much you miss me.
So, next year I’ll be going to Big Picture South Burlington, which is “a project-based program at South Burlington High School that seeks to engage and motivate students through independent learning & student driven curriculum.” I’m pretty excited about it and I already have a long list of project ideas. I think this should be a pretty natural transition from the coop, and I’m hoping to help create more of a connection between Big Picture and the Coop.
I also have a summer job at The Wild Center in the Adirondacks! I’m super excited about that, and can’t wait to come back and share what I’ve been doing with some of you. I’m getting the chance to work some of their exhibits and interact with people, and other fun things. Please come up and visit me, and also drive me one way?? I’m desperate for rides.
I’m excited about all these new experiences, but I’m sad I’ll be leaving. I’m planning on seeing you guys as much as I can, so don’t worry, I’m not going to graduate and then fall off the planet. It’s been an amazing 5 years, and I’m so glad I got to go to this school. Thank you.
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