Thank you, Teacher!

You're the person that I most admire,
The person that I most would like to be.
Your friendship, like a torch, has lit a fire
Deep within the cave where I am me.
Because of you, I want to be a teacher,
Touching someone's life as you've touched mine.
And when I'm you I'll know just how to reach her,
Giving her the faith that she can shine.
Though you now must leave, and we must part,
A little piece of you remains behind,
Held with gratitude within my heart,
A portrait of a lady good and kind.
You will be part of everything I do;
When I need strength, I'll look inside for you.

There are no words to match my gratitude,
However much like Shakespeare I might write.
Above all else, you've shaped my attitude,
Nurturing me with discipline and light.
Knowledge is the least of what you taught,
Yet that least at least prepared my head.
Out of your heart I've learned the things I ought,
Underscoring words you never said.

Thank you for your good and gentle care,
Having made your classroom bright with song,
Apparent in my child's frequent smiles,
Nestled in his thoughts of right and wrong.
Kids, like teachers, know when love is there.
You are the connoisseur of many styles,
Opening through days difficult and long
Understandings supple, sweet, and fair.

Thank you for opening a door for me,
Having the desire to share your joy.
A teacher gives much more than thought and skill,
Nor is her heart the least she might employ,
Knowing well the rules of ecstasy.
You are yourself the lesson we deploy,
Owning all the passion of your will,
Unraveling in ourselves your mystery.

Thank you for being such a good friend.
How you put up with me I'll never know:
An awfully big heart and a fuse that is slow?
Nothing I broke was too shattered to mend.
Kids know good teachers by the stars in their eyes.
You had those stars by the dozens and more.
Open your heart and you open a door.
Under your love are my free, clear blue skies.

Teachers dwell in some far-distant heaven,
Even the most plain and down-to-earth.
All your expertise and dedication
Captures our naive imagination,
Heightening the aura of your worth.
Eventually, that youthful admiration
Returns as we embrace what you have given,
Serving as the seed of our rebirth.

Teachers flow like mountain streams
High up through ice and snow,
And bring their learning down to earth
Not far from what we know.
Knowledge you have pure and cold,
Yet one thing, naturally,
Of all you know I value most:
Understanding me.

Thank you for being simply the best!
How you do it, we'll never know:
A passionate teacher, yet one of the guys;
Never the boss, yet controlling the flow;
Kind, free and caring; groovy and wise.
Your excellence spoils us for all of the rest.
On leaving your care, we must look back to grow.
Upon these bright memories, we lay our good-byes.

Carmen Wong (3B)