Good Byes and Hellos

I recently have released a few students from speech services. Often times I have mixed feelings about this. On one side, it’s good for the student to move on, they don’t need you anymore. Yet, we tend to grow rather fond of our students. Those of us working in elementary schools, we get to watch our students grow up. I work preschool through 6^th grade. I’ve only started the preschool part last year, but I have 3 of my preschoolers in kindergarten now. They’re already a little taller and a little more mature. It’s incredible just how quickly it all happens. And every year, a new batch of our kids are getting ready to enter Jr. High School. I hope and pray that they’ll be able to make it, that they’ll do okay.

The speech language pathologist has to have a big heart to do what we do with so many that we work with. We have to be flexible to let new kids enter our heart at a moments whim; yet, we have to be understanding when our students move with little notice.

I use to have a real hard time with good-byes. I’ve never much really liked them, but there have been so many in my life, not many were permanent though, just moving on from one stage of my life to another. This school year seems to be riddle with them. My school has a high turn over rate mostly due to our status as a title one school. I always have a stack of files that are ready and waiting for a file request, and I’m constantly adding kids to my schedule. My schedule has been all over the place this year. As if it wasn’t bad enough due to the fact that we’re also a year round school. At least some of the kids come and go so quickly that I don’t get time to get attached.

There are those who manage to sneak into your heart quicker than others. One that I released recently reminds me of my daughter, same spirit, same obsession with princesses, same smile. I had to let her go, and I was happy to hear from the mom that the student was very sad to have to end speech.

Luckily, we still have several years where she can say hello in the halls.