Dear students,
It's hard to write a letter to 75 young men and women who have each affected my life in a myriad of individual ways over the past year. And if that's a tall task, try writing that letter to those same students who I've known and taught since the 7th grade!
Despite how long we've known each other, I want you to know that I believe in you. And I will continue to believe in you for as long as you need or want me to.
You can all do such great things, but only if you commit to doing great things. The real success is always in the attempt. A perfect or near-perfect end result is for research papers and math equations. Real life has a lot more flaws. But don't ever let that hold you back.
This year we've studied characters with primary goals of introspection-- a searching of the self. Whether it was Guy Montag daring to be a reader in a world where his job was to burn books, Holden Caulfield searching for love while coping with his brother's death, Elie Wiesel surviving the horrors of the Holocaust while questioning his faith, or Arnold Spirit Jr. attempting to strike a balance between two cultures, they all carry similar messages of hope, courage, strength, and determination.
Don't be the person who wants to burn the books.
Don't care about the suitcases under the bed. (Wear your red hunting cap with pride.)
Don't be the person who judges others based on who they are
(or who you might think they are)...
Don't be the bully. We have enough of them.
Stand up for what you know is right and just, but pick your battles all the same.
Not everything should be a fight.
Be an Atticus. Be a Scout. Be a Katniss.
Heck, be a Romeo or a Juliet-- but without the tragedy.
Don't fall for the Monkey's Paw.
Don't put false hope in the Lottery.
Write poems.
And if you don't like poems, write rhymes.
Spit words out on the page or lay them down on a track.
Train yourself to practice art in some way every day.
Remember that even friendship is an art.
Write at least 3 letters over the summer. Letters, as in words on paper. Sealed in an envelope. Sent with a stamp. Emily Dickinson wrote a constant stream of letters to her sister-in-law, and they were next-door neighbors!
I have a friend who once SEWED a letter to me on cloth that resembled a piece of loose leaf-- with blue lines and everything!!! (Okay, I won't mention another friend for the rest of this correspondence. I know you're sick of my "I have a friend..." stories.)
Make music mixes. Give them themes. I'm actually going to go on record saying it's somewhat acceptable to sing along to Justin Bieber and Rebecca Black, but make sure you throw in some tunes from The Cure and a lot of Joan Jett and Florence + the Machine. Watch out for the MTV/BET stars. They're only a mirage. Stars fade. And too many explode.
Don't try planking on dangerous things. This includes roofs, ledges, railings, and anything else with an ultra-hard surface, or a fall from some great height. Ocean planking might also be a bad idea. There's this crazy thing called rip tides to worry about around here...
ALWAYS wear your seat belt. Even in the backseat. PLEASE.
Don't drink and drive.
Avoid recklessness with your heart, your body, and your mind.
Be reckless with your laughter, but not too much else.
Next year when you sit for the English Regents, remember that you have all the tools you need. So take your time.The same goes for those pesky SATS.
Think of me on St. Patrick's Day and how we'd always celebrate with music and soda bread. (And pictures of mountains and cows!) Remember to tóg go bog é... Irish for take it easy.
Check in with me once in a while. You should have the info memorized by now, but here it is for old time's sake:
ms.k.keenan (at) gmail.com(I bet you can't read that without hearing me say "Mizz DOT k DOT keenan AT gmail DOT com")
Keep up with
www.goodreads.com and don't forget our reading group:
Ms. Keen's Book Fiends
I want to thank you for being such an important part of my life and career over the past few months and the past few years. It's been absolutely AMAZING to see how you've grown in the smallest and largest of ways. A lot of people measure the passage of time by saying, "Gee, it feels like only yesterday we were blah blah blah..." but for those of you who I've known since you were scrawny little pipsqueaks, or snotty little pre-teens, or sweet-as-pie innocent little kids, I have to say, it feels like YEARS!!!
But mostly good ones.
I feel privileged to have been able to share in this part of your life, and hope that what lies ahead is mostly all that wonderful and happy stuff. The sad stuff's inevitable, but you can handle it. I have faith in every one of you. Yes-- even you-- the few of you who have your walls up, who sit in class trying to sneak a text or stare out the window. You know who you are... the few of you who cut class, or don't do homework, or fail to live up to what I know is your true potential. You can roll your eyes all you want. You can sigh or throw a fit. I'm still going to like you. Even if it's for the smallest of reasons.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I have a lot of time and effort invested in you and your success. I've come to learn your idiosyncrasies and you've definitely learned a bunch of mine at this point. (These include a drastic need for morning coffee, extreme distaste for spiders, foul language, the R word, and not writing in blue or black ink...) And now that we're most likely parting teacher-student ways, I want you to know that I still hold you to the same level of accountablilty that I have since September of this year, and as far back as the first few days of 7th grade. I want to see you succeed in your remaining two years of high school. You owe it to yourself. To your family. To Rebecca Black. (Okay, maybe not the last one. But you get the idea.)
It just occurred to me that this letter will seem completely ridiculous if, in fact, I end up as your teacher again next year, but oh well. You should know that I appreciate you and wish you well and all that sentimental stuff.
There are all sorts of sappy poems and quotes to describe the end of the school year and how to say farewell to students and all that jazz, but that's not really my style. So here's a few lines from a pretty great poet, Rainer Maria Rilke:
"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to love them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."
Good luck with your questions.
Here's hoping you're aware of, and open to, the answers when they come your way.
Thank you for being an amazing group of students.
Thank you for the lessons that you've taught me, the challenges you've presented, the laughter you've created, and the hopes and struggles that you've shared.
Stay as beautiful and as wonderful as you are... as I know you can be.
Much love,
Ms. Keenan
06/14/11
