Oh very young

So my end of the year teacher gift was entitled "120 Things We Love About Mrs. Bridge"

It was a stack of cardstock papers the size and shape of dollar bills. On each was an answer to a question, and between each of them was in fact a dollar. A hundred and twenty of them. It was very sweet and cash is always nice when you're a teacher, but of course, the words were more important.

Here are some highlights (there were many duplicate answers but they were still included):

What I Like Most About Mrs. Bridge is...
I like her laugh.
That she tells stories about her life.
Her sense of humor and being a different type of teacher.
That she always laughs and never gives demerits to 6th graders (Those 7th graders are bad though)
She's nice.
She understands her students very well.

What Does Mrs. Bridge Say All Of The Time?
Get out Simple Solutions (our math practice book)
My name, when I need to come and get my lost things
Chill, baby!
What are you doing in the corner?
She just laughs. All the time.

The One Thing Mrs. Bridge Will Miss About ME Is...
Everything!
My smile
My sense of humor
The things we talk about in my religion journal
My high-fives in the hallway

My Favorite Thing Mrs. Bridge Taught Me This Year Was...
How to make a sling shot
She taught me about myself
Everything--it was all fun and interesting
How people like chunky pasta sauce and they don't even know it (This was a TED talk...)
About the radio station that is always buzzing (in Russia...)

What I Will Miss Most About Being In Mrs. Bridge's Class:
Jolly ranchers
Telling us stories about her life
Watching TED talks
Her sense of humor
The dart board
Being able to sit wherever we want in class
Being able to come back in and get my things even if she's teaching another class
Her! And that she always helps me. She's my favorite teacher I've ever had and I will miss her advice and our journals. I will miss everything.

---
This is the first year, in all my years of teaching, that it is hard to say goodbye.

Oh very young
What will you leave us this time?
There'll never be a better chance to change your mind
And if you want this world to see a better day
Will you carry the words of love with you?
Will you ride the great white bird into heaven?

And though you want to last forever
You know you never will
You know you never will
And the goodbye makes the journey harder still

Will you carry the words of love with you?
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

Oh very young
What will you leave us this time?
You're only dancing on this earth for a short while
Oh very young
What will you leave us this time?

--Cat Stevens