We have (almost) reached the end. And with the end of another school year comes, time and time again, so many endings.
This time it is just a little different.
It is my turn to leave the high school I know so well, to leave a place I have sometimes spent more hours in a day at than at my own home.
It is a place where my own growth has been formative.
Though, over the past four years, I may have only grown from 5-foot-2, to 5-foot-2 and a half.
It is becoming time to depart from the journalism office and staff full of the people who have shaped me, challenged me, mentored me, strengthened me and given me the immense pride of being a Globie for the past four years.
And, it is time for seven educators who have been integral members of our school to leave Clayton High School – to begin a new chapter of their lives.
In this issue of the Globe, we cover seven CHS teachers retiring at the end of this school year.
These educators have all been at CHS for years, have impacted the lives of so many students and peers, have contributed their skill, their pedagogy and their passion to Clayton.
There is something about ending my high school journalism career with the cover being on the stories of these seven educators that simply feels right.
Although their leaving Clayton may mean an end to their career and my leaving Clayton and moving onto college means getting one step closer to whatever career path I will take, I cannot help but feel connected to these retiring teachers.
These educators have certainly spent more years at CHS than the graduating seniors, but together, we are all embarking on journeys beyond the walls of this high school.
In a sense, they too are a part of the Class of 2017.
There is so much possibility in what the future may hold for all of us – this graduating class of both retiring teachers and high school seniors.
There is so much beauty in that unity.
Yet, my own future does intimidate me.
Saying goodbye to the Globe, a community that has nurtured me, bolstered me and pushed me for the past four years is, well – scary.
I consider myself so fortunate to have found a sanctuary within this building – the Globe office. Within this space, I have been consistently inspired and have felt an unparalleled sense of purpose and inclusiveness.
I hope this Class of 2017 has found their own refuge while at CHS and that we find new places, spaces and people who give us that sense of belonging – that sense of home.
