Stripping the Willow

The three of us before our last day of school (It was a free dress day for me- thus the kilt and Scotland strip)

It's hard to believe, but the school year is now over. Both St. Columba's and Masterton finished up yesterday with a half-day schedule. The past few weeks have been difficult, with many goodbyes to our new friends, and yesterday might have been the hardest. We still have three weeks here in Scotland and some travels to finish off, but the clock is ticking on our big adventure. The school celebrations actually kicked off on Wednesday night, when Christa and I went to the Retiral Ceilidh to help send of those teachers who were retiring from St. Columba's.

Since we were going to attend the end-of-year ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) celebration, I figured I should go in style. I found a kilt rental store downtown and chose the Silver Thistle pattern. I went with a "fashion" tartan instead of a family pattern- I didn't want to start any fights by picking sides.

The band warming up before showtime!

Prior to the dancing, the three retiring teachers were acknowledged with speeches from colleagues and then were given a chance to share their own personal remarks. It was clear that all three of them had devoted a great deal of their lives to the school, and they will certainly be missed. The senior management also took a moment to bring me up and thank me for my efforts at the school this year, even presenting Christa with a bouquet of flowers. I took the opportunity to announce my retirement from teaching (I got caught up in the moment), but soon realized that might not be possible yet. Once all the talking was out of the way, it was time to dance!

Fortunately prom had given me a chance to work on my Scottish dancing technique the week before. The dance lasted for about two hours and included a number of different dances such as Gay Gordons, Canadian Barn Dance, St. Bernards Waltz and the Orcadian Strip the Willow. Christa was a good sport and spun her way around the dance floor as well. We closed with a traditional dance to the Scottish poem by Robbie Burns, Auld Lang Syne.

More spinning than the teacup ride at Disneyland.

The next day it was time to say goodbye to the students and staff at St. Columba's. Seeing as the last day of school was a half-day, many students (about 700 I would guess) didn't show up. You can understand not wanting to bus yourself into town for a few hours of school. For the small amount of time they do have, students tended to roam from room to room, talking to friends and sharing plans for the summer holiday. For me it was time to tidy up my classroom, gather up my belongings, and say those final goodbyes. The students were very sweet, and had many kind words for me before leaving school. It was hard to say goodbye to many of the kids who have left me with such fantastic memories of my time at St. Columba's, but the bell rang and it was finally time to go. 

The last time with my registration class (the half that showed up today). This is like a homeroom class that meets every morning during the first 15 minutes for announcements and attendance. I didn't have any of these kids as students, but they kept me right with pronunciations and terminology, as well as explaining to me what my announcements meant every morning.

The lunch area in the staff room. I always tried to strategically sit in the middle in an attempt to keep up with conversations.

Interior of the school foyer. Every day I climbed those steps to pick up the bulletin and check my "pigeon hole", or staff mailbox. You can see that Olympic spirit is in the air this year.

One last picture before driving away.

Next week we go in search of the Loch Ness Monster! Stay tuned.....