This is my 40th year teaching preschool at my wonderful school. It feels like 10 or maybe 20 years. 40 is, well, a big deal…at least my school thinks so. At our monthly staff meetings, they have often surprised me with 40 of something – from 40 bags of Crunchy Cheetos, to 40 Valentines, to 40 lottery tickets, and now this:
40 words to describe Jennie.
My goodness. Yes, my fellow teachers know me well. My first reaction is a wonderful poem, “Fair Winds and Following Seas.” I read poetry with different eyes, and this poem speaks of a sea of learning and wonderful experiences. It speaks of spirit and heart, reflecting on years of teaching, passing what you know to others, and knowing you passed on love to the children. To me, this is a beautiful poem of hope and reflection, much like watching a sunset and waiting for the next one.
Fair winds and following seas,
may forever you feel, upon your cheek, the salty breeze.
Your spirit lives on in many a heart,
your words captured, and never to depart.
May your loved ones have the comfort in knowing,
to heaven is where you are going.
For all that they have to do is look above,
and they will be reminded of your love.
Jennie
A Teacher's Reflections 
You are well loved Jennie!
Lucky me! 🥰
Only fitting that you should be appreciated and honoured for all your loving work with children over the years, Jenny. So many will aways remember your guiding hand and voice… That’s payment alone. All best wishes for your future. Cheers! Joy xx
If I am remembered, that is the greatest gift. Thank you, Joy!
What a beautiful tribute, Jen! Very happy the Merms made the cut!
I know…the Merms!!! Thank you, Alice.
❤️❤️❤️❤️ absolutely beautiful and well deserved tribute to you-
Thank you, Beth! 🥰
❤
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This is just beautiful. Jennie, and so well deserved! 40 years is quite the achievement, and especially in one school! ❤
Thank you, Ritu!! 😍
40 years is more than a big deal, it is a HUGE DEAL!. 40 years of loving children, dedicating your life to their enjoyment and development, and being loved, admired, and respected in return. Yours is truly a life well-lived, and no person in history was ever better-suited to a teaching career.
CONGRATULATIONS! Best wishes, Pete. x
My goodness… 🥰 A life well-lived, yes. I guess 40 years is a huge deal. I know there will be ‘something’ at the end of the school year. This is not my comfort zone, but I’m smiling and very appreciative. Thank you so much for your wonderful words, Pete.
Congratulations on a remarkable achievement, Jennie and congratulations to forty groups of children who have been blessed to be in your classroom.
That’s so nice, Dan. I hadn’t thought in terms of 40 groups, but you’re right about that; so many groups. Thank you for your very kind words!
What a legacy, Jennie!
Thank you.
My pleasure
Congratulations, Jennie on your 40th anniversary at teaching at that school! They do know you well. What a treasure that framed image is, but more importantly what a treasure the children and school have in you!
That’s so nice. Thank you, Deborah!
Thank you, Deborah. Yes they know me well. I love how you described ‘treasure’. Much appreciated. 😍
40 Years! This achievement most certainly deserves a standing ovation!! This also deserves a quote that somewhat captures the spirit of your teaching : “The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.” – Mark Van Doren. Thank-YOU!
Thank you! I love that quote!!
That’s a beautiful present for a beautiful lady !
🥰
So well deserved, Jennie. Congratulations.
Thank you, John.
😁
Hi Jennie! This is absolutely wonderful! Congratulations!
Thank you, Charles!
Jennie you are so loved by everyone and such interesting words about you. They appreciate who you are. Great 🙏😊🙏
Thank you, Kamal!
Always welcome Jennie 😊
Forty years of doing good deeds. Congratulations, Jennie.
Thank you, Anneli!
Congratulations, Jennie!! 40 fabulous years and 40 fortunate classrooms to have you guide them along. How wonderful that you are being acknowledged for your contribution. 💖🎉❤️
Dear Jennie,
I concur with Darlene and also understand your sentiment, for my late mother had been a school teacher for 36 years. She could have continued, but in those days, the age of retirement was 55.
I love your following statement:
Such a milestone of achieving 40 years of teaching is not to be trivialized, unheeded or forgotten. I would hereby like to celebrate your milestone and resonate with your dedication to teaching by complementing the spirit and beauty of your special commemorative post here with my musical composition entitled “The Sunset Lingers On“:
Please enjoy the music to your heart’s content as we witness a new horizon and journey towards a lingering sunset whilst you wait for the next one……
Yours sincerely,
SoundEagle
My goodness! Your music is beautiful. Thank you for celebrating my many years of teaching with music. Most importantly, you are the first person to comment on the statement I wrote, the one that meant the most to me. Thank you! Your late mother must have been as passionate about teaching as I am. I would be sad if I was forced to retire because of my age. My very best to you!
I tried to submit a long and detailed reply to you two or three times, and I am not sure as to whether it has got through.
Dear Jennie,
You are very welcome. Thank you for your compliment. I have always respected school teachers (especially the caring ones) who have done so much for children and teenagers in their formative years.
Movies about teachers inspire me. I remember that “Carpe diem” or “Seize the day” is the catchphrase or slogan in the movie “Dead Poets Society”, in which “John Keating, a progressive English teacher, tries to encourage his students to break free from the norm, go against the status quo and live life unapologetically.
Apart from “Dead Poets Society”, I love other similar movies depicting unconventional teachers or mentors, such as “A Man without a Face”, “Good Will Hunting”, “Finding Forrester”, “Mr Holland’s Opus”, “Patch Adam”, “Awakenings” and the like.
I am glad that you have enjoyed my musical composition entitled “The Sunset Lingers On“. What I shared to your post is the second part of the music, which comes in two parts. You are hereby cordially invited to listen to the first part of “The Sunset Lingers On” in my special post entitled “🦅 SoundEagle in SoundCloud: Art, Music and Compositions about New Sensations, Love, Life, Country, Nature, Dreaming, Meditation and Spirituality 🏞🎼🎶“.
I would like to inform you that when you visit my blog, it is preferrable to use a desktop or laptop computer with a large screen to view the rich multimedia contents available for heightening your multisensory enjoyment at my blog, which could be too powerful and feature-rich for iPad, iPhone, tablet or other portable devices to handle properly or adequately.
If you also happened to be an audiophile and connoisseur of fine sonic art, then you would be pleased by the availability of a fair amount of music on my blog, much of which comprises my musical compositions. These constitute only a fraction of my total musical output, as I have yet to find time to showcase the rest on my blog. Moreover, those published compositions are by no means representative of my musical oeuvres, which are very diverse. Hence, you may want to turn on your finest speakers or headphones, as some of my posts and pages will be playing music to you automatically.
Oh…. Music is a many-splendoured thing, and will always be to me, even though I have stopped performing and recording on my four musical instruments since the passing of my beloved late mother, to whom I had entertained and played for her frequently. One of my own musical compositions that I dedicated to her is called “Journey Of Life“, which is also included in the said post.
Please enjoy! The said post explains a great deal about my musical compositions there. I welcome your input and feedback by way of leaving a comment or two at the said post, as I am certainly very keen and curious about what you will make of my music, especially coming from such a wonderful teacher as you, to whom I shall always respect for their indefatigable spirit and dedication to their profession.
Yours sincerely,
SoundEagle
Such lovely music. Thanks for sharing. xo
I am absolutely the teacher in “Dead Poet’s Society” and “Mr. Holland’s Opus.” Yes, I stand on a chair (not a desk) and read aloud the best books to children. Yes, I play music they have never heard, from classical to the Beatles. My favorite quote is from Hans Christian Andersen; “Where words fail, music speaks.” I look forward to listening to even more of your music.
Dear Jennie,
HaHa! Given what you have just described to me, I would love to see you in action!
I have twice attempted to submit a comment here, and the comment seems to have disappeared both times. The comment includes a weblink for you to listen to my music in a special post. It seems that the comment might have been mistakenly identified as spam. Please kindly retrieve and approve it from your WordPress spam folder.
To access your WordPress spam folder, go to the following URL:
[insert your blog url here]/wp-admin/edit-comments.php?comment_status=spam
After unspamming the comment, you will need to approve it by going to the following URL:
[insert your blog url here]/wp-admin/edit-comments.php?comment_status=all
This will allow you to visit the said post “to listening to even more of [my] music.” Please enjoy!
Yours sincerely,
SoundEagle
Many thanks for your kind words, Darlene. Much appreciated. 😍
That’s so nice, Darlene. Many heartfelt thank yous for your kind words.❤️
You deserve every accolade possible! And you’re still smiling…
Thank you, Pam! Yes, I’m still smiling…
40 is monumental on ANY job. You were lucky that you didn’t consider it work.
You hit a nerve, GP. It has never been work, albeit way too many hours (and more). I guess I’m lucky to do what I love to do. I wish everyone loved their work.
40 years!! Jennie, this is EPIC in any job! And teaching?!? You are such an inspiration to so many! You deserve it all and more!! God bless you and THANK YOU for all the years you’ve served!! 💚❣️💛❤️ WOW!
Thank you, thank you, Karla! 🥰
You’re welcome, Jennie!!! Here here!!❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️
Congrats on hitting that milestone, Jennie!🥂
Thank you, Bruce!
A lovely tribute to an extraordinary teacher!!
Thank you, Liz. 🥰
You’re welcome, Jennie.
How wonderful! Congratulations on 40 years of teaching!
Thank you!
Wow! Congratulations!
Thanks, Cindy!
As someone who worked at a school for a long time, I can confidently say that fellow teachers don’t do things like this simply due to longevity. It’s a reflection more on the impression you’ve made on them, the children, and the school.
That’s so nice, Pete. You words ring true. Thank you!
Jennie, it warms my heart to imagine those staff meetings. This memento is beautiful. Congratulations and happy anniversary. Big hugs.
Thank you, Teagan. At the end of every school year, they celebrate staff longevity anniversaries (10, 20, 30, etc.) I’m a little ‘worried’ about this…
What a wonderful tribute to you, Jennie. Congratulations on 40 years – a life well-lived.
Thanks so much, Norah! ❤️
That is a monumental accomplishment, Jennie!! You are one impressive human. There are many teachers that could learn a lot from you.Those children in your classes are the luckiest by far. Congratulations.
‘Impressive human’ is an enormous set of two words. My goodness! Thank you, Marlene. It doesn’t feel monumental at all; it just feels like getting up for the day and heading into the classroom for new and wonderful (or not so wonderful) adventures. I do try to teach teachers, and of course I love the children. That’s all that really matters.
40 Words, 40 Years and 40 Rounds of Congratulations, Well Done!
Thank you, Laura!
Huge congratulations Jennie… on your 40 wonderful years in your teaching roll…. You are so, so, loved both in your teaching roll and in your blogging one… Much love dear Jennie… So deserving of being gifted this, so very fitting my friend xx ❤ ❤ ❤ xx
Many thanks, Sue! ❤️
Jennie, thanks to you and Gloria for visiting at my blog today.
Who’s at the Door? (5) #ThursdayDoors – Teagan’s Books (teagansbooks.com)
It was my pleasure, Teagan! Thank YOU! ❤️
Absolutely beautiful tribute
Thank you!
Simply amazing.
Thank you!
Thank you!
Aww. How wonderful, Jennie. Yes, your teaching community knows you very well. Congrats on 40 years of making life wonderful.
It was quite a surprise, and truly wonderful. Thank you for your kind words, Diana! 🥰
What a fabulous achievement. Well done for being so appreciated too
Thank you.
Fantastic
Thank you.
Welcome.
Many congratulations Jennie, and so well deserved. You are loved. And that poem was quite stirring. Hugs xx
That is so wonderful, Debby. Thank you! 😍
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How beautiful is that. ❤️❤️
Wow Jennie, many congratulations and I can only imagine the hundreds of children you have inspired across those 40 years who are now parents and thriving because of your devotion to teaching… Love the tribute from your colleagues and so well deserved.. ♥
That’s so nice of you to say. Thank you, Sally!❤️
♥
Congratulations on this milestone, Jennie! And it’s wonderful to see that your school shows its appreciation. You have given so many children a wonderful start in their education!
Thanks so much, Becky! I feel both lucky and blessed.
As are your students, Jennie!
😍
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It is a beautiful poem and a wonderful tribute. Congratulations Jennie 🏆🏆🏆🥇🥇🥇
Thank you!
Congratulations, Jennie on 40 yrs of excellence all the accolades are well deserved you are one of the best educators I have known hugs xoxo
That is so nice, Carol. Thank you! 💕
Happy Anniversary, Jennie! A well deserved honor. You are a true role model, and resilient like granite. 🙂 Best wishes, Michael
Thank you so much, Michael! Your words are very appreciated and kind.
A beautiful tribute, and well-deserved, Jennie! Happy anniversary!
Thank you, Olga!
Congratulations, Jennie. That is an amazing piece of art that describes you well. I love that you still love your job and kids after 40 years.
Thanks so much, Carla! 💕