Jenny's retirement party

We celebrated Jenny's retirement last Friday. Jenny hates to be the center of attention. She did not have much choice in the matter. Her school made it as low key as they could to honor her wishes, but there was no doubt about it, we were all there to celebrate Jen. There were three speakers who chronicled her teaching career and shared stories about her influence on kids over all of these years. The speakers were John (her principal for about 10 years), Ellen (a former coworker) and Micah (her team teacher in 5th grade for the past several years). The common theme was Jenny's strong interest in social emotional learning, even way before it was the thing to do. That has always been Jenny's passion. Micah made a statement that struck me. I can't quote it exactly, but the gist was that you don't worry about learning how to row a boat if there is a hole in it and it is taking on water. You make it whole first. And that is true of students. Very profound. Jenny has always been good at understanding her students' needs. I loved Ellen's stories of Jenny's role as a detective and how, with her methods, she could get the truth out of just about any 5th grader. And I loved when John choked up when he talked about Dane and Tom and about how important family is to Jenny. I cried pretty much off and on the whole night. 

I am so proud of my sister and her 30 year teaching career and the difference she has made in the lives of her students. 

Jenny and some Hawthorne friends (John included)

family