June is often thought of as a season of endings and beginnings when graduations and weddings abound. Families celebrate the past as they anxiously and excitedly look toward the future.

Since the school year really starts in September and ends in June, it’s also often time for another type of ending – the retirement of veteran and beloved teachers.

Two colleagues I worked with in a past school district will be retiring at the end of this school year. I started writing them each a card by saying “Congratulations on your retirement,” and then I stopped and remembered how odd that had seemed to me when I retired a few years ago.

It seemed strange that someone would congratulate me on something that I was just doing – ending a career in education. I simply wrote a letter to the superintendent and was done. It didn’t seem much to warrant praise. But then I started remembering these two exceptional teachers and I had a bit of a paradigm shift concerning the definition of the word “congratulations.” So I think perhaps people are really saying a number of things when they say “Congratulations on your retirement,” particularly in the case of these two remarkable women. I think they are really saying:

Congratulations for being able to find just the right key to unlock a child. It might have been introducing a child the wonderful world of Arnold Lobel and the “Frog and Toad” reading books, or helping a student continue to try different musical instruments to find that one that fits perfectly. Double congratulations for doing it with those students who were quiet and shy – those easily missed in the craziness of elementary school.

Congratulations on watching out for those students most needy: the ones who couldn’t afford to purchase a band instrument or perhaps looked longingly at your lunch one day. Congratulations for being an advocate for them and bringing their needs to the attention of school counselors and administrators, thus allowing them to become more successful at their studies and in their student life.

Congratulations on being superb professionals, attending staff meetings, planning student activities and very rarely complaining. Extra kudos for taking that unexpected bus or playground duty and smiling about it.

Congratulations on being mentors to the younger teachers in your buildings, providing training on a reading assessment, or helping them fill out their first report cards, or being there with an encouraging word and maybe even a tissue if needed.

Congratulations on connecting with parents and families and making them feel comfortable as partners in their child’s school career, perhaps reaching out with night program at the local library or creating musical performances that brought the audience to their feet with tears in their eyes.

So to my dear colleagues, thank you for making a difference in so many students’ lives and in so many teachers’ lives. Congratulations on your retirement, indeed.

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