The downside to this bonding is that he and the class eventually have to part. Normally, when a school year finishes, it is sad to see them go, but you know you will see almost all of them the next year at school. Not this time around, however, as our leaving Scotland meant that Rick would be saying an almost permanent goodbye to his students, which was tough to do. Fortunately, many of them have kept in touch with Rick during their next school year, and Rick is able to follow along with the school's events through its newsletter.
Rick also formed a good bond with the parents, and we were invited for drinks at some parents' house the evening of the second last day of school. Rick wasn't sure he should go, but was encouraged by his head teacher. We were greeted at their house with a nice bottle of beer and some tasty appetizers. After a wee while, everyone, including their dog, headed off to the next destination, which we suspected was someone else's house, but turned out to be the local youth club hall where his students than their parents were lying in wait to surprise him with an amazing going away party that was totally planned by the parents and kids. Nobody breathed a word to Rick, even though all the kids knew about it, which is rather impressive. It would be an understatement to say that he was shocked and greatly surprised, not to mention greatly honoured. It was a raucous, noisy time, with his kids flocking around him and having fun teasing him. We were told by many of the parents that nothing like this has ever been done by the parents for any teacher, even ones who are retiring. Nothing could have made Rick feel more appreciated.
The following photos feature a lot of adults and no children, due to the right to privacy that applies to children. You will need to take our word for it that it was pandemonium!!
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| Surprise, surprise!! Mr. M. comes face to face with the throng. |
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| We wish we could show you how happy and excited the kids were. Rick was overcome with emotion. |
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| What better way to calm down that with a bottle of beer. Rick felt really uncomfortable having a beer in his hand and drinking in front of his students. Didn't stop him, though. |
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| Brian and Hazel, who both helped Rick feel so welcome at the school. Brian is the custodian and Hazel is a lollipop lady. They are a fun and lovely couple. |
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| Sally, who is head teacher extraordinaire! While she made sure that Rick did what he was supposed to do, she allowed him to upset the teaching apple cart at the school on occassion. Thank you Sally!! |
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| Lynda, school adminstrator, and Margaret, business manager, from the school. Rick helped Margaret with a lot of tech issues and became a good friend along the way. She keeps Rick updated on life at Currie. |
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| Drink in hand, Rick finally tells the parents everything that is wrong with their children. Not really, but I am sure every teacher has wished they could do that on occasion. |
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| The best idea of the evening - let them eat cake! Nothing like a sugar rush to ramp up the kids!! |
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| "Unaccustomed as I am to speaking..." As this was such a successful surprise, poor Rick didn't have anything prepared when called upon for a speech. He did very well, even when emotions caught up with him. |
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| Decorating the teacher. |
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| An exhausted, happy, honoured and well decorated Mr. M. |
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| Rick took this opportunity to keep educating his students, as he corrected their grammar. He told them it should say "you ARE great," as he doesn't stop being great just because he is leaving! There was also an inside joke between him and the kids, as he ran his classrom as a glitter-free zone, so of course they took the opportunity to use as much as they could for the sign. |
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