It seems almost counter intuitive to put corps members into a school for a year with kids who suffer from abandonment issues, but that's exactly what happens each year. It is one flaw in this year of service, balanced out by so many positive outcomes. So many of my students have difficulty trusting people and suffer from abandonment issues due to things in their past or their home life. For my first graders, this is apparent in their constant craving for attention. In my middle schoolers, it's harder to see, but is still present in every relationship.
Twice this week, I've started tearing up when my students have brought up my leaving at the end of the year. I had a job interview yesterday, so I took the day off. When I was leaving on Monday, Ms. Moulton counted to three and all of a sudden, all 21 first graders were yelling "GOOD LUCK MS. RUSSO!" She then explained that I was going on an interview at another school because I wouldn't be at NHCS next year. Even though we had talked about it before, it caught me off guard after their well wishes and I had to leave because I didn't want to start crying in front of them (we'll save that for the last week). Today, I was overcome with emotion again. I was helping EE and KO during writing. All of a sudden, EE looks up and says,
"When are you leaving?" EE says to me.
"This afternoon? Or at the end of the year?" I respond, not sure what he's talking about.
"To go to the other school." EE says.
"Ohhh. At the end of the year. Why? Do you want me to leave?" I said jokingly with a smile on my face.
What came next wiped the smile off my face and brought me to tears. EE's simple response of "I like you Ms. Russo. I don't want you to leave." forced me to look away for a second. It didn't help that KO then added a supportive "Yeah! Me too!"
These two boys are some of the best. They are so loving and sensitive, but have their emotional struggles. They can make me laugh with this funny first grade things they do, but can also make me so upset when they are struggling.
In honor of my last few weeks, I'm going to do a spotlight on a few of my first graders for each blog post. I talk about a few of them pretty frequently, but I want to make sure you get to meet all 21 of my fantastically funny first graders. Here we go! (ps. names have been changed!)
Alex - Alex is one of the quieter, more mature students in the class. Academically, he excels, being in the highest reading group and never having any problems in math or science. Because he is so quiet, he is hard to get to know, but when he shows his personality, it's hilarious. His facial expressions can bring a smile to your face. Every morning when I see him, he always greets me with this gloomy greeting of "Hiiiiiiii, Miiiiisssss Ruuuuuuussssoooooo" but then smiles and kind of chuckles. He's a cute one.
Trevor - I've mentioned Trevor on here before. His brother is schizophrenic and Trevor just has a lot going on at home. He CRAVES positive attention, but shuts down when told to move a clip or feels like he is being punished. He struggles socioemotionally and has a hard time fitting in because of all of these issues. His favorite thing to do when he wants attention is just to walk by and say "Hi, Ms. Russo" really fast and keep on going. He just needs a lot of extra love and support, which is hard sometimes, but something that I strive to give every day.
Taylor - Taylor is the youngest of three boys and is full of energy. His parents are super involved in the school and always on top of everything. Taylor is all boy and this can get him in trouble when he isn't paying attention. He is so loving and sometimes will just come and rest his head on my vest in order to show his affection. Taylor gets along with everyone and is such an innocent and sweet kid to play with.
So there they are! The first three of my incredibly wonderful first graders. God bless 'em!
"Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on earth." -Shirley Chisholm
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