Twenty

Fourteen years ago, I stepped into my very first Kindergarten classroom.  I was 23 years old, terrified and thrilled.  I had definitely found my fire!  The parents of those children looked skeptically at me, wondering aloud how “that young girl” was going to take care of and teach their babies.  On the first day of school, and every year after that, I was always overwhelmed by the sheer number of children.  Once we settled into our routine, it was no big deal, but the first day of school is a different story!  There’s something that happens when your class enrollment reaches twenty. 

 

                          Twenty small children (or 22, 24, 26…) is A LOT!!! 

 

This year, the first day of school will be very different for me.  After fourteen years of spending the first day of school with five and six year olds, I am beginning my internship as an Administrator at the high school level.  I am 37 years old, terrified and thrilled.  I am learning the customs, traditions, and language of a foreign country, one that has graciously accepted me as one of their own.  Again, I am looking for that spark that will send me along a blazing path.  On August 8, I expect to be overwhelmed once again by the sheer number of children…this time a school full of teenagers rather than a classroom of twenty or so little people. 

 

Still, I won’t be able to help but wonder what’s going on in Kindergarten.  That magical place.  The place where it all begins.  And, my prayers will be with Kindergarten teachers everywhere as they welcome “Twenty” to school for the very first time. 

 

Twenty by Emily Branch

20 is a lot...

20 parents to call
20 bus tags to make
20 names that are just that...names
20 mysteries to solve
20 sets of worried, protective, parental eyes to gaze into
20 steady gazes that say, "I've got this...Let me love him, let me help him grow..."

20 seeds to sow
20 malleable young minds, waiting and wondering
20 first hugs, some squeeze tight looking for acceptance, some timid, stiff, skeptical
20 tiny voices...."look at mine, teacher"
20 pairs of shoes to tie
20 first marks on their very first school paper...


20 dirty faces to count at the pumpkin patch...
20 times or more
20 into the wagon for the hayride
20 pumpkins to load into the truck
20 times to hear, “I notice something!”
20 first report cards
20 first loose teeth to pull…

20 cold, gray, rainy days stuck indoors
20 dedications to write inside the books given for Christmas
20 thank you cards to write for the precious mugs that say "Teacher"
20 jackets to zip up
20 runny noses
20 first times to truly read a word…

20 beautifully, breezy days playing outdoors
20 monkeys running wild through the zoo
20 pairs of shorts, now too small
20 noses buried in books
20 plaintive requests, "read some more"
20 writers...
20 readers...
20 thinkers......

20 yearbooks to sign
20 last report cards
20 favorite songs
20 tight, confident, familiar hugs
20 teary faces
20 goodbyes......
20 trembly voices, “I’ll miss you next year”
20 seeds sown.

20 is not very much.