#SOL16 Letter to My First Kindergarten Class

Letter to my first kindergarten class, upon their high school graduation

Dear Graduates,

We first met each other in 2003, when you were 4 and 5 years old and I was 24. Your first official year in school was my third year of teaching and my first year as a kindergarten teacher. You were so little, full of energy, and eager to learn. The letter people were friends in our room, including Mr. B with his "beautiful buttons" and Mr. M with his "munching mouth." We celebrated the wedding of Mr. Q and Ms. U in style and you even brought in quarters as wedding gifts! We had teddy bear tea parties and ate green eggs and ham. We built blocks, painted, and danced. Olivia, the pig, traveled home with you for the weekends. We sang "What a Wonderful World" in June before you moved onto first grade.

It's been quite some time since I've seen most of you! I hope your journey through the years as a student has been rewarding and I hope you are just as curious and enthusiastic about life as you were back in 2003. 

Much has changed for me since you were my students. I'm not Miss Neagle anymore- I'm Mrs. Sokolowski and have been since 2009. I have two children- Alex, who is starting kindergarten in September and Megan who wishes she was! She is three and likes to do everything her big brother does. I taught kindergarten until June 2014 and I've been teaching third grade for two years now. While I loved kindergarten for a long time, the move to third grade has been very renewing and I'm really enjoying teaching these students. 

As you leave Farmingdale High School and start the next chapter in your life story, I hope you know I'm proud to have been your kindergarten teacher. What I've always wanted for you is that you know you are a person of value, that you treat other people with kindness and respect, that you read to enrich your life and become more knowledgeable and that you write to express your ideas and your heart. I hope you follow your passion and do what you love. I hope you dream big and see nothing but possibilities in front of you. I hope you still believe, that even on the worst days, it really is "a wonderful world." 

I would love to hear from you and learn about your next steps after high school. I am wishing you luck and love always.

Yours truly,

Miss Neagle (Mrs. Sokolowski)