The Family Missionaries

Well, I am back in my hometown of Princeton, New Jersey.  It is so great to be home with my family.  Yesterday for Memorial Day we went to a picnic with our ward.  It was great to see the familiar faces of those of whom I grew up with and love.

I have three cousins right now who are out on missions.  They are doing some wonderful and awesome work.  My cousin closest to me in age, Lauren, is serving in the Florida Ft. Lauderdale Mission and is currently in West Palm Beach.  Here she is (the beautiful one on the left)!

My cousin on that same side of the family, Jacob, is serving his mission in the Texas Dallas Mission and is currently in Plano.  Here he is!  (It was his birthday the other day, and my cousin got to visit him and bring him a cake.)

And, my cousin from the other side of the family, Taylor, is serving his mission in the England Manchester Mission.  It's fun to have a family member serving outside the states.  Here he is (under the picture)!

I am excited to join them!  But for now, I will enjoy my time with my family.

Love,
Sean

Class Of 2011 Graduation

I just came to the sudden realization that being a high school teacher means I have to go to Graduation every year.  I'm really not a big fan of the long commencement exercise that of which is Graduation.  I was bored at my high school graduation.  I fell asleep at my college undergrad graduation.

So, when I was told that my presence was required at the high school class of 2011's graduation, I was less than thrilled.  I went to Graduation, and was surprised.  I LOVED IT.  I was more than pleasantly surprised.  I was shocked.  It was one of the best events I've been to.  I guess I rather watch other people graduate than myself.

The speakers were incredible.  I was really touched with one of the speakers.  He was one of the Special Education students at the school, and he spoke of his journey.  He named some of the amazing staff at the school saying that they "did not wait for some other place or some other time" to help him, and that his successes could not have been acheived without the help of dedicated teachers.  It was very touching.

It was so great to see four of my Special Education students and about ten of my Peer Tutors graduate.  I am so proud of them.

At the end of the ceremony, a student got up to give closing remarks.  She told the students to move their tassles from right to left as per tradition.  In the middle of her speech, music started playing over the intercom.  It was recognizably "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey.  Suddenly, all of the students stood up and did a choreographed Flash Mob dance for the unsuspecting audience.  It was a great succees.  I am so proud to teach at a school that has such a lively student body that loves fun.  I am convinced that I work at a "one-of-a-kind" school, and I am very lucky.

The Class of 2011's theme was a quote given from President Barack Obama.  All politics aside, this really is a great quote:

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.  We are the ones we've been waiting for.  We are the change we seek."

So fitting for the class of double-ones.  2011.

Love,
Sean

Yearbook

This has been a week from insanity.  I have been so busy wrapping up the school year, and trying to live every possible moment with my students.  Yesterday was the last day of students coming to the school.  I love yearbooks.  I am going to miss these silly, loving kids so much.

Oh...And yesterday, on the last day of school, a student spilled a cup of water all over my laptop and totally fried it.  Dunzo.  Oh well...Things happen!

Love,
Sean

Letters To My Students

I am writing "end of the year" slash "goodbye" letters to my students right now.  My hand hurts, so I am taking a break...But I just need to express how much I really love and care about my students.  I adore and look up to each and every single one of them.  They are the light of my life.  They keep me smiling, and they make my days happy.  They keep me on my toes, and they keep me spritely.  I am so proud of them.  I am so lucky to have them in my life.

Love,
Sean

An Inspiring Post-It Note

I am a Post-It note freak.  I have Post-It notes ALL over my desk.  The other day, I found a Post-It note amidst a sea of fellow yellow squares.  My student wrote a message to me that I will hold onto for forever.  He wrote it after hearing about my mission call.

It read:

"Serve the Lord, teach his gospel, and love Him, and worship Him."

I really have the most INCREDIBLE and OUTSTANDING students.  I am the luckiest guy alive.

Love,

Sean

Horton Hears A...Shh, Can You Hear It?

Today, Justine and I took some of our students on a field trip to see Seussical: The Musical.  It was a really awesome experience.  The play centers a lot around the character, Horton, an elephant, who claims that he can hear a voice that seems to come out of nowhere.  He hears a voice, listens to this voice, and speaks back to this voice...Yet no one else can hear it, because no one else wants to hear it...Especially the Sour Kangaroo (a hardened heart, perhaps?).  I saw so much similarity in how the Holy Ghost works.  As LDS people, we know we hear His voice.  We are receptive to a voice from someone we can not see.  Other people may ostracize us, but we stay strong and firm in the things we know to be true.  I just loved how much the story from Seussical tied in to this.

*Sings* Because, a person's a person...No matter how small.

Love,
Sean

A Remarkable Student

So...Let me start off my saying, "What's up with Blogger?!"  I posted about my mission call this past Wednesday, May 11th, and I had 17 extremely nice and meaningful and inspiring comments from you all...And somehow they are all gone. :(  I looked at them probably every hour and re-read them.  I thank you all for your support and kind words.

Now...onto my post for tonight.

Last night, I chaperoned Prom for the high school I teach at.  I had such a great time, and it was so awesome to see such a clean and modest dance.  The students at my place of work are exceptional.  Last evening after dinner, a suit coat was left on a chair.  A lady cleaning up to change the dinner set up to dance set up said to herself, "This isn't good.  Someone left their jacket."  I said, "Oh, I can take that, put it up in the coat rack and try to find who it belongs to."  I decided to look through the pockets to see if there was any identifiable information.  What happened next was incredible.  I pulled out of the inner pocket, a temple recommend.  The name on that temple recommend was the name of one of my students with Autism.  How awesome is that!?  The demonstration of this young man's Church standards are inspiring.  I am so proud to have such faithful students.  I have learned SO much from them.

Love,
Sean