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Learning and Leading

Birthday Reflections

By Julie Riggs
English Chair K-7, Lakehill Preparatory School

Six decades. Sixty years. Somehow my birthday this year seems full of import. More than ever before, I find myself reflecting – and anticipating. My mother lived to be 82, and her younger sister turns 91 the day before I hit my comparatively youthful milestone.

Almost a third of that life has been here at Lakehill, and that’s a rather defining experience. When I began, I was nervous, a bit overwhelmed, and full of resolution to make my classes as meaningful as possible. I’m still overwhelmed sometimes, but nerves have evolved into a reserve of confidence and patience that serves me well.

I am even more eager than I was eighteen years ago to build memories and confidence in my students and to make them feel that time in this classroom– newly remodeled with accents in my signature colors of lime and teal—is well spent.

I hope, as before, that they walk away with some new vocabulary, an awareness of what makes writing effective, the memory of at least one book that touches their hearts or stirs their imaginations, and most of all, the knowledge that they are loved.

Here’s to the next decade!

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