Henderson South School

Room 3/Good byes

 

(Nancy Smith, Miss Karaka)

    It's always sad to say goodbye! I couldn't believe how fast six weeks of working in the schools goes! Looking back now, I feel like I just barely got back from the South Island and was going in to meet Trevor Diamond for the first time.  I have to say, I truly had the best school ever to do my second practicum in. Out of all of the schools that I could have gone to over here, I had the best principal, the best teacher, and truly the best atmosphere. 

    So the last week of school has been such a good one. Usually every other Monday we have an assembly during fitness time, this week though we didn't have one when we were suppose to. I was kind of curious as to why we did fitness instead of an assembly, but then I just decided it must have been the off week. Then on Wednesday we had a "Special assembly." This was the sweetest thing ever! The students went through and did their normal assembly routines, where the teachers present the certificates, then the birthdays, announcements and musics. Then we still had about ten minutes, and the students running the assembly asked me to come up and sit on a chair in front of the assembly. I then had four people stand up and represent room three. Miss Karaka had gone through and had them all write something they wanted to say to me, and then had them practice saying it to her, and then picked the for that she felt were the most endearing and had them say it to me. It started out, and Little Arianna got up and talked. She was very sweet and said thank you then gave me a hug. The next person that talked was D-zaiah. I have really enjoyed D-zaiah in class. She was a new student (she came in about two days after I had been there) and I was able to work with her a lot. She said a few things, and then gave me a hug. Then the next person to talk was little Jeremiah. I know a teacher isn't suppose to have favorites, but Jeremiah was by far my favorite student in class. There was something about him. He was such a sweet kid, and would always just look at me and smile. He's the one that no matter what happened would remind me why I loved teaching. Anyway, he got up and said a little something to me. It was very sweet. Then the last person that said something to me was a little girl names Mihi. I must say, this was the one that brought tears to my eyes, and was the most endearing. Mihi is my little girl with special needs. She has a lot of learning disabilities and a lot of health issues. She had told Miss Karaka what she wanted to say, and then Miss Karaka and written it down for her. She got up there and was reading it then half way through started asking for help, but then after she gave it, she just leaped to give me a hug, and said how much she was going to miss me. It really was the sweetest thing ever. It brought tears to my eyes. 

 (Jeremiah is the little boy right behind me with his hand on my shoulder. The rest are the boys of room three.)

 (Arianna is the third from the left on the second row. D-zaiah is the fifth from the left on the second row, and Mihi is the second from the right on the first row. These are the girls of room three.)

       Following the speeches, from the little children, the students all sang a Waiata to me. It was such a pretty song. Then after Miss Karaka came and said a few words to the group and to me, and then gave me a huge laminated book. In this book, was a picture of all of the children and then a little quote bubble with a message that they had written for me. It was so sweet. I loved the messages from them all! It was so thoughtful. Following the assembly, it was time for morning tea. On Wednesday, the school provides a big lunch for the staff. We also have an hour morning tea, because the bible teachers come in and give the teachers prep. So today's morning tea was a special farewell to the Byu students. This was so nice. They had heaps of food, and had even made a cake that said farewell on it. It was so thoughtful.

       We all enjoyed the food and the conversation, and then Trevor Diamond (The principal) got up and thanked us for coming, and for the work we have put in the school. Following this all of our associate teachers said a few words to us. Following this they presented us with a letter, a card, and then a really nice bone carving necklace. They had gotten us all a bone carving necklace to remember them and the school and to show thanks. My teacher (Miss Karaka) had asked to go last. Then after she presented me a necklace, she  had a big poster. she unrolled it and inside of it was a beautiful piece of Maori/New Zealand art work. She was like I wanted you to have something to remember me by, and to help you remember your experience here in New Zealand. I am so grateful I had you. You have been incredible then presented me with this beautiful piece of art work for me to hang in my house. It is incredible. Everybody in the room was in amazement. All of the staff and the Byu girls were so jealous and telling me how much they wished they had gotten one. It truly is gorgeous! I can't wait to frame it back home. After this we cut the cake, and mingled with the staff. It was a very nice departure ceremony. It was really nice, Henderson South is the only school that does anything to say goodbye to their girls as a whole. It really was such a nice gesture, and so thoughtful.

   Now even though we had the formal farewell on Wednesday, our last day of teaching wasn't actually until Thursday. Janet, Diana, Hannah and I decided that for a thank you for the school we would bake a small morning tea to take into the school. Hannah and I took in snicker salad (That didn't have snickers in it because we couldn't find small snickers, so we got small moro gold bars, and moro crunchy bars). Then we took in the chocolate toffee cake. Only they didn't have the Carmel sauce to poor on it, so we put a berry sauce on it, we whipped our own cream and then they didn't have toffee bits to put on top, so we put Cadberry Black Forest bars on them! I must say, it turned out incredible! Then we also had made cupcakes for our students. So this morning walking to school, we looked pretty funny!
     Anyway, we tried to run the day as normal as possible, but it was really hard. One of the things that I felt like was the neatest, was usually when you leave a school, it's the class you worked with saying goodbye and bringing you notes, but here the school is so tightly knit that it was an entire goodbye from the school. I had several students from all of the classes bring me notes and cards and giving me hugs wishing me good luck. Telling me they'll miss me, and saying goodbye. This was something that was really neat to me.
     Then my teacher for the last couple of hours of the day dedicated it to saying goodbye to me. All of the students had made me cards, and I had several students bringing me in gifts. I had a little girl from Samoa (The island the people come from is very important to them over here) bring me a bracelet that their grandma and her had made to give me that said Samoa on it. It is absolutely gorgeous! Then I had a little girl bring me in a diary. Then room three gave me all a box of cadberry favorite chocolates. Then they all gave me hugs, and then I gave them some silly bands, some reeses, a note I had written them, and then their cupcake. After we took heaps of pictures. It was really a sad day! I feel good about it though. It was such an incredible experience, and I had no idea how 30 kids, 1 teacher, and 1 community could change me. It was an incredible experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. I am so grateful I was able to teach in room three with Miss Karaka and at Henderson South. It truly is the best school in New Zealand. Haere ra Room 3.