The end of teaching English

Seidy, the founder of the Copey Learning Center, has resigned and after four incredible years this is her last week. My English students came together to show their appreciation for everything she has contributed. We prepared a PowerPoint presentation with pictures of all the students over the years and all the different volunteers, too. We wanted to remind her the blood, sweat and tears meant something. We also created a scrapbook. Everyone wrote letters (in English) and expressed in their own words what Seidy and the centre meant to them. We even reached out to former volunteers and asked them if they would write a letter and send it to us. We handmade envelopes and pasted each one on a separate page. Then we glued pictures with an artisan feel. Seidy has no idea we were working on this project. It was a complete surprise. It was a lot of work, but so worth it.

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Tonight was also my last night teaching my adult English class. We had a nice party to celebrate the end of the year and to say goodbye. My students surprised me with a lovely certificate that reads:

                                            The Advanced Adult Class wishes to thank:
                                                                   Anne Lawrence
                                    for being an excellent professor and a wonderful person.
                                 Thank you for sharing your knowledge and kindness with us.

To be clear, I was just a volunteer teacher (not a professor). Needless to say, I was overwhelmed and yes, I cried. It was a night of mixed emotions. I had such a fantastic year. I met new people and made new friends. It was truly one of the most enriching experiences I've had. I'll never forget it... and I will always remember each of my students with great fondness. I've gained a huge appreciation for teachers and the work they do. It's not an easy job. I've been inspired by people are out the door every morning at 4 am to go to work on their farms and after a long day would find the energy and motivation to come to class for two hours twice a week all because they want to learn English. I'm full of admiration. I'm so grateful for their sense of humour, especially when I was trying to speak Spanish. I always managed to make them laugh (not sure that was a good thing, but laughing is always good even if it's at my expense). Thank you to all my students for making it such a fun year!

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