Kristina Boving became a class teacher at MWS in 2006 and led the MWS Class of 2014 from Grade One through Grade Eight. She then took the Class of 2019 from fourth grade through their graduation last summer before taking over as class teacher for the seventh grade class that will graduate from MWS in June of 2021. In this post, Kristina reflects on the ending to a very different Spring semester.
After my recent parent meeting, I grabbed a cup of tea and sat down, hoping to reflect on this time of Meadowbrook at Home and how it has been for the parents and students. I started to think about all the lessons we’ve learned, and how proud I am of the student’s resilience and goodwill toward me and each other throughout this time. My group of seventh graders quickly became more tech savvy than I am, and only had kind responses to my many glitches along the way- “Well, Mrs. Boving, you could try this to get your whiteboard to work better...hope this helps…”. I remain so impressed with their maturity in the face of such obstacles to overcome.
But quickly my thoughts turned to the future, as I realized that parents did not really want to dwell on the past weeks. Instead, they were forward thinking and talking about how to make eighth grade the best it can be for the students. Those who have had older kids go through Meadowbrook know how special eighth grade is, and they just want their younger kids to have a similar experience. Can we still do field trips? Can we still have our traditional family campout? Can we still go to New Hampshire to the AMC huts? Will we even be able to have school in person in the fall….? All I could say at the meeting was, “I don’t know”, but I sure hope so and I will do my best to ensure that the kids will have a great year.
As we teachers wrapped up the year, we focused on the last week of school and finding activities that mimic the festivities we have that last week every year. Field day had to be different, with each family taking part in the challenges at home, but we still had fun. Our specialty teachers and school staff still received homemade thank you cards, but delivered by mail. Our end of year celebration wasn’t our traditional sharing of music and dance, but a car parade to our home site to bring closure to the school year and give a glimpse of where we will be when we come back together in the Fall.
Here’s looking forward to a great eighth grade for my class, and a wonderful year for all of us. One that will be different- but a year that will still be Meadowbrook.