I hope you enjoy this short letter from my fifth grade teacher. The impact that school leaders - in all roles - have on our children reaches beyond the short time spent with them in the classrooms, cafes, and hallways. Thank you, school workers, for your service and dedication each new school year. Thank you, Mrs. Fischer, for the impact you had on my life.
Letter from the editors: GUEST WRITER
My first day goal was for every child to leave in the afternoon smiling, with knowledge that…
Susan Fischer Pasco County Schools (1981-2011)
Greetings! My name is Susan Fischer and I have dedicated my adult life to teaching elementary school students. After graduating from the University of South Florida, I spent the next thirty years teaching in Pasco County, Florida. I have been retired for several years now. My former students
…they were in a safe place, where kindness and respect were key. …we would work hard, yet have fun doing it. …they could and would rise to my lofty expectations. …I always had their back.
continue to bring me great joy when we happen to meet in the community, by email or on social media. I love to catch up on their lives, meet their families and reminisce about the “good ol’ days.” Now, my days begin and end with my favorite word puzzles or book instead of an alarm clock. I enjoy traveling, genealogy, photography, and spending quality time with family and friends. Even though I have been retired from teaching for some time, I still get sentimental when I see school supplies on sale and the First Day of School pictures crop up on Facebook and other social media. Each August, I would arrange and rearrange my classroom hoping to excite and inspire my new class. I would set up my library with Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutzky poetry books, along with the latest hit series, my well-worn, much loved novels and the books my former students wrote. I made sure to unpack all of the snakeskins, seashells, fossils and other cool stuff I collected with my students in mind all summer. The Art Center was filled with fresh crayons, cheerful markers, colored pencils and lavender, teal, light blue and pink lined paper. For thirty years, I would barely sleep the night before school started. I would have butterflies in my belly, just like the kids! I loved seeing them dressed to impress, clutching their new pencil boxes and backpacks. Some were nervous, some were overconfident, some shy and quiet, most filled with hope that this year would be their best yet.
Ten years later, I still miss reading my favorite books aloud with my students begging for me to continue. I miss seeing the light bulb moments during a particularly hard math lesson. I miss their joy and laughter. I miss watching them learn, grow and mature. One of my greatest thrills is catching up with former students and seeing who and what they have become. We reminisce about classmates, their families, favorite books and the special moments our class shared. We laugh about their childhood antics and they fill me in on their lives. I hope they know how special our time together was and how I still refer to them as “my kids.”
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