Goodbye Phoenix, Hello Vermont!

I said goodbye to my first classroom of kindergarten students today and truth be told, it was tough. Who knew that 5 weeks of 5 am wake up calls, 19 five year olds, and countless soggy roast beef sandwiches could leave such a bittersweet set of emotions! Our last day of kindergarten mirrored many of the last days of schools I experienced as a wee one, "parties", speeches, popcorn, read-alouds and general giddiness! I have never seen so many excited 5 year olds, anxious to show off their refined reading skills to their visiting parents. And to top it all off, our students reached their individual growth goals for the summer and exceeded our expectations for improvement in reading, writing and math!

Yes, Institute is over and now it is time to board my plane to JFK and onto VT for several glorious days on Lake Champlain before I head south (this time for real) to the Big Easy. Much awaits me in the Crescent city - my undiscovered apartment is waiting for me, along with a soon-to-be found job! And I can just about taste the beignets already.

But alas, my plane is boarding and so begins my red eye journey east.

More later, Kari