The speech I didn't get to give

Okay, so I won this award at graduation.

And it means a lot to me, truly. The staff had nine nominees to vote for, and I came away with this year's "Whatever it Takes" award. Which, if you're a teacher, is about as close as you're going to get to winning an Oscar or a Nobel prize. It's flattering, and it's nice to be recognized for the hard work I do. (That being said, everyone at YES does a ton of hard work. A TON. You know this. I mean you guys do it, too.)

But y'all know how I love to hear myself talk, and I wish I could have at least said a little thank you when Mr. D gave me this thing. It would have gone a little something like this.

I need to thank two people first and foremost. The first person is the best teacher I ever had, and that is my mom. The second is the person I love most on this planet, who puts up with my absence almost seven days a week, and that is my husband.

But I absolutely could not and would not get up early each morning and stay up late each night if it weren't for the kids I see in my classroom and on the sidewalk each day. The kids who greet me with humor, affection, and a willingness to learn whatever I've decided to teach them that day. I hear adults grumbling about "kids today," and how they're all thugs or have no manners or whatever. But I know differently.

When *I* was in high school, I never let me teachers know how much I liked them or valued what they did. I barely thought of them after I left their classroom. I am blessed to have not just one or two students, but dozens, who are kind, respectful, gracious and thoughtful to me every day of the week. I go to work and feel loved, and that is something nobody out in the corporate world gets at all.

You see, when you guys left Room 7 last week, although I was ready for a break, I was sad to see you go. There was never a single day this year when I thought to myself, "I don't want to see this class." Never. In fact, when I am stressed about all my grown-up responsibilities, I just dissolve into class and find a peacefulness. Every single one of you is a joy in my day, and I thank you for that.