So, how was that BIG Retirement Party and Kindergarten Reunion?

As readers of this blog know, I had been planning a BIG retirement party and reunion of my former students for months.  I had studied class photos from the past 41 years, searched for over 600 names on Facebook and on school district class lists, and invited students and their families to an ice cream social one Sunday afternoon.  So, how did it go?!

It was a cool, damp afternoon and I was a bit worried.  The park district facility had both indoor and outdoor seating, a playground, and lovely grounds including a walking path around a large pond. I had been hoping to visit with people inside and outside. But, the weather was not cooperating.  Would the turnout be suppressed by the weather?  Or, would everyone come at the same time and would we risk exceeding the maximum capacity of 110 people?

We arrived a half hour before our first guests so that we could set up the tables with helium balloons and the class photo displays which I had prepared .  We set up two different class photos at each table, selecting classes that were years (even decades!) apart.  I hoped that former students would gather at the tables where they saw their class photo and both reunite with old friends and connect with new people.

We set up a few special tables, as well.  One table had a basket of all the old Beanie Baby-type teddy bears that I'd used for years during our daily phonemic awareness lessons.  Children held these bears while we practiced rhyming and other word skills.  The sign told guests to select a freshly-laundered teddy bear to take home.

Another table held three special stuffed animal friends: Corduroy, Owl, and Dog.  Corduroy was a bear that had visited about 600 Mundelein homes over the course of my career.  Kindergarteners took him home in a cloth bag which also contained books about him and a notebook for the children to record their own adventures with Corduroy.  Owl was a stuffed animal that the children held when they said something very wise.  Dog was a stuffy held by children when they showed they were good friends. These stuffed animals were there to be raffled off to some lucky guests!

A third table held an adorable plaque made by a former teaching assistant, Bonnie, along with a guest book.  A sign encouraged guests to sign their names or write a memory or a message in the guest book.

And there was one more table where guests would see my puppet friend, my "right hand man," Reader Rabbit, and a number of special albums parents had made for me years ago.  I hoped that these simple amusements would entertain guests.

My husband set up a screen and we projected a slideshow of some 700 photos I'd collected of students from 1977 to the present.  Music from my iTunes playlist accompanied the slideshow.

The freezer was stocked with about 300 Klondike bars and popsicles.  A wonderful locally-owned coffee shop provided the hot beverage for all who wanted it.

Everything was set:  now, where were the guests?

Oh, they were there!  Starting right  on time and all afternoon, students and their families stopped by.  At times, the parking lot was packed, the line to greet me was very long, and there was a lot of commotion in the room.  We estimate there were over 300 people who came to the party!

Our own grown children gave every former student a name badge when they arrived but I rarely needed to look at them.  This surprised me because I hadn't seen a lot of these people in two or three decades!  I was helped out a bit because so many of them came with their parents and I recognized the parents quite often.  But, most of the time, I could see something of the little boy or little girl in the man or woman standing in front of me.

One student was from my first class in 1977.  He will turn 50 next year!  Time for a teacher to retire when her elementary school student is turning 50, right?!  A couple of others were from classes I taught in the 1980s.  Many students were from the 1990s and early 2000's and,of course, there were a lot of young ones running about. Whole families came with multiple siblings who had been in my class.  The superintendent, my current principal, and a couple of other former colleagues with whom I've kept in touch, were also there.

My hope that guests would enjoy reuniting as well as making new connections was realized! My own youngest son was so happy to reunite with two of his buddies from elementary school. I could see and hear people excitedly saying, "YOU had Mrs. Hugo, too?!  When?  Do you remember Corduroy?"  

I heard more memories, more kind words, more success stories than I could ever have imagined. It took me hours to read all the beautiful messages on the cards and letters.

Every room in our house has flowers and candles in it, there are plants on our back deck, I have new jewelry to wear and purses to carry, I won't be tempted to buy chocolate bars all summer but I can shop to my heart's content at Barnes and Noble, Target, and Macy's, and on Amazon, I can drink coffee at Starbucks and eat at Chilis, Maggiano's, On the Border, Panera, Olive Garden, or Macaroni Grille every week!  People were incredibly generous with their time, their words, and their gifts.

My bucket is overflowing! This party is something I always wanted, it was a lot of work, it was incredibly satisfying, and I am so grateful.  That is how I would summarize my party and, for now, that is how I will summarize my career: something I always wanted, a lot of work, and incredibly satisfying.  And I am so, so very grateful.

BUT PLEASE STAY TUNED!  I'm not done blogging about teaching.  I hope you will want to read about more of my favorite lessons, tricks of the trade, and reflections on education.

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