I might have actually done something right.

Ready for a really tender story?

This week, my 5th period AP class threw me an extraordinarily well-planned surprise going-away party for me.

We have a rotating study hall period called PAWS, and this last Thursday I had my 5th period class in my room for PAWS. Soon after the bell rang, the campus supervisor walked in and said they needed to see me down in the office and he would cover my class for me. This was strange and very out of the ordinary. As I walked out of the classroom, I looked over my shoulder and saw 32 kids beaming at me with their necks craned to watch me leave. I thought this was suspicious. It was even more suspicious when I got to the front office and found out that no one there really had anything to say to me, although the assistant principal offered to walk me back to my room (she knew all about it).

When I saw the campus supervisor peaking at me through a crack in the door and my blinds mysteriously closed, I knew something for sure was up....when I walked in, the lights were off, and all the kids shouted, "SURPRISE!!!!" I looked around and saw green balloons and a big mylar (or teflon, as I told my mother) "Good luck" balloon, green (it's my favorite color) streamers that had hurriedly been strung up everywhere, notes written all over the board, and a big table that had a cake ("Good luck, Ms. Snow" with orange and black flowers), pop, and snacks. They all stood there smiling at me for a second, and then I started jumping up and down and clapping, and they followed suit. So we partied for a little bit and I read the super nice card they had all written in, and tried to decipher the big porcelain mug that they all had written messages on ("You have ripped calves." - Lee). Oh, and there was this really tender card from Tony, who I also had in 9th grade, who said if it wasn't for me he'd still be sitting at home after school playing video games instead of thinking about what to do with his life and where to go to college (insert tears here). I love those kids.

Apparently, the second I had left and was out of sight down the hallway, they had all raced next door to another teacher's classroom to retrieve all their supplies. According to them, all you could see was kids everywhere running back and forth with balloons, carrying tables on their heads, putting up streamers, etc. for about 2 minutes....and then they were all set up and waited for the next 10 until I got back, wondering what to do with themselves.

It was the one of the top 3 nicest things anyone has ever done for me. I didn't get a picture of the cake or anything, but here's the ones I did get:

Aren't they the greatest? I don't know how I got so lucky, but my three years at Vaca High has been one big long story of Ms. Snow getting the BEST students in the world. Those kids have a earned a pretty sizeable chunk of my heart.