This is easy. I received this note from a student before school was out for Christmas. I forwarded it to the principal and told him it was my favorite gift this year and it wasn't even Christmas yet. He put a copy in my personnel file. My reply follows her note.
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HI!!!!!!!!! It's Rose! I just want to say how much I appreciate your kindness and education you give me! I tell mommy about almost every day, "Mrs.Santoro is so awesome." :) You're the person that makes my day at school, and I mean every, day. Another reason why I LOVE being in your class is because you make learning so much fun! Like the other day when you were helping me with math boxes and you changed the problem into something horsey related, I understanded it much easier! :D You also said that we wouldn't be sad when we left your classroom or when we got to sixth grade. YOU'RE WRONG!!!!!!!! :) Trust me, I am going to greive in my bed after the last day of school!! I am not sure how to thank you! This is all I can do to thank you, unless you come up with something! This isn't just to get good grades :p this is for real.
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Rose, Rose, Rose... what a beautiful gift you just gave me...a gift of writing that touched my heart. Teaching brings me great joy and having you in my classroom just adds to that joy. Your hard work shows me how much you appreciate the classroom atmosphere. Making learning fun is part of my job! Your mom does that for her students, too. My nephew told me. ;-) I learn easier when what I need to understand is related to something I'm familiar with, so I know it will work for my students. And relating everything to HORSES is SO easy! ;-)
You, dear one, will never need to be sad, for once we move on from our student-teacher relationship, we become good friends. I will always be just an email away, and I suspect we'll be having visits in some barns, too. Remember, once school is out we have the fair to look forward to...and we can make plans to see each other and chat with emails for years after that. We'll meet for ice cream! So--no worries. And, it's only December... we have months of smiles and learning ahead of us. Yay!
Rose--thanks so much for your words. Gifts of writing are my favorite gifts of all.
HUGS to you!
Mrs. S