On the Occasion of My Last Day
of Elementary School

by JoAnn Geck
(Mt. Airy, MD USA)

Written for the staff of New Market Elementary School

I've been walking these halls since I was three,
A little barely talking me.
I may have been different, but YOU could see.

(You've always known that I'm just me,
the perfect me I was meant to be)

Some days I was tough and your patience was tried,
School was so hard! I complained and I cried.
I was ornery and stubborn and sometimes wild.

(But you've always known I was just a child,
much like any other child)

I learned that different just means hard work, not stupid.
You said "Keep on trying!" but "I can't" you forbid,
And I learned to be proud of all that I did!

(For you've always known I was just a kid,
much like any other kid)

And I know that I can be
Accepted and
Respected,

Celebrated and
Congratulated,

"Gently shoved" and
Daily loved.

And now it's time for the last bell,
No more to say, no more to tell;

Summer is calling, we know it's true.
Just enough time left to say
Thank you.

(These words were written from the heart of Austen Geck)