End of the school year (almost)

This past month has been exhausting, exhilarating, and mostly enjoyable (with the exception of setting up more than 3500 pieces of artwork for art show). I had one of those great-ish teacher moments during the AP testing. One of the AP Art students, whom I had as a freshman in Studio Art came up to me an said that she wanted to thank me, because if it were not for having taken Art with me she wouldn't be in AP Art now. I was very touched an moved by this. I have been teaching Art for almost 15 years now and I am always surprised the impact I have on students lives. And it is not always the students that you expect. This year is bittersweet a well because my first group of students that I has as freshman when I started working in this district are graduating. With pride I can say that the bulk of the award winners for the year are former students of mine. Even as a "veteran" teacher, it gives me a great sense of accomplishment and the feeling that I truly have an impact on theses students, whether or not they (or I) realize it.