A few firsts

Friday was my last day of school.  Its always a relief to walk out the door and know you won't be coming back for awhile.  This was my first year doing that when I didn't wait until noon to leave.  Officially we have to stay.  But usually when I leave at noon because I'm such a rule follower, I'm one of the last.  So this year, I left early. Whoa- big step for me haha

This was also the first year in 15 years that I was shocked over a parent asking for a grade change.  Don't misunderstand.  I have parents complaining about grades all the time and wanting extensions or exceptions made for little Bobby who was just irresponsible.  But this is the first year where I had a mother come in after school and literally asked me to change her son's grade just because he was usually a straight A student and I was the ONLY teacher who hadn't GIVEN him an A.  Keep in mind, this was a mom who had done TONS for our PTA this year, is fun and supportive and had actually prefaced her request by telling me how much she appreciated the extra credit options, supported my late work policies and knew that her son hadn't done any extra credit, BUT!.... there's always a BUT.  So after saying all these nice things, she then said that he was just about 4/10 of a percent away from an A-, couldn't I just bump it up?  Couldn't I just make an exception and help him keep his amazing grades?  She realized this was junior high and that it was more difficult and blah blah blah.... every excuse imaginable.  The more she talked, the more offended I became.  I told her I was sorry but I didn't GIVE grades and I let my computer program figure out what each student had EARNED based on their scores.  I was sorry her son didn't do any extra credit but there were 16 projects to choose from and up to 50 points.... The more I talked, the more she stiffened.  I held my ground.  After she left, I checked his grades.  I wasn't his ONLY B+ and he was more than 3.5% away from an A-!  Yep, there's a first for everything.
THIS!  Is also a first:

My very own Tiffany bag!  With a cute little pair of earrings in it!  Like real, honest to goodness Tiffany earrings!  haha I work with this awesome science teacher named Brenda.  She used to be an undercover cop before she became a teacher.  She met her husband while she was a cop and they've been together 31 years.  Her husband approached me almost 2 months ago and asked to help throw her a surprise party.  They've recently moved and Brenda has been wanting to show off her new place.  All of us at school were wanting to see it.  Her husband wanted to do something to honor her and show her how special she is to him.  So after weeks of planning and being sly, the party came together yesterday.  Brenda was surprised and we had a lovely afternoon.  As the party was wrapping up, a woman from Tiffany's walked into the room and said she had some gifts for a few people.  I assumed Brenda's husband had really splurged and was looking forward to seeing what he had purchased.  No one was more surprised when this woman was looking for me first!  As a thank you for my help, he spoiled me a pair of sterling silver earrings, engraved with the signature Tiffany logo.  WOW!  That was completely unexpected and so generous!  Thank you!

With summer here, I'm sure there's bound to be more firsts somewhere...