Two quotes on my TFA farewell poster by two students that I love that caused me to tear up:

"Last year I wasn't reading good. Miss Kara helped me grow in reading." - TD

"My favorite memory is a picture of me and Miss Kara." -BL

(only I know, and now by default all of you, that for this child with autism, who refers to memories in pictures, he means that his favorite memory is the picture in his mind of the two of us)

I truly love these students, and I am consistently surprised by how many more tears there are left when thinking about them. I hope and pray they have more teachers who encourage them to become all that they can be and give them the skills to be successful. I hope they make the right choices. I hope they defy every dooming statistic. I hope they lead meaningful lives that they can feel proud of. I hope that one day I hear from and about them. They have meant the world to me.