Today has been quite an emotional day. Yes, it was the last day of school and watching some of my favorite 8th grade students get on the bus for the last time was more than a little sad for me. That alone would honestly be enough for me to have to handle. The end of this year, though, means so much more.

It’s the end of an era for Central Middle School. Next year we will experience lots of changes as we move into a brand new building and gain new leadership. Although these are exciting times for CMS, today is a day for me to be sad and reflect on the past.

Let me rewind a little bit. Our middle school has been around for quite some time. So many people from our community have walked its halls as students and have memories from their time at CMS (or before when the building was CHS). Myself included — I dug up my old yearbooks when I got home this afternoon. I figured since I was already a crying mess, I might as well roll with it. So here’s a little taste of Tiff the middle school student:

My 6th grade yearbook photo:

7th grade ad with my BFF, who I met in middle school and still love dearly many years later:

Photo from 8th grade yearbook:

While I was a student at CMS, I was a student library worker during both 7th and 8th grade. They let me out of PE — what can I say, I never was very athletic. But it’s unbelievable to have memories of my library, of the many hours I spent shelving books there as a student, and then to come into the position of being the librarian there myself. It’s not an experience that many people get to have, and I’m so grateful that I was able to spend a year and a half in that old library.

As you can imagine, quite a few of the teachers and staff members from my time as a student are now my coworkers. One of them is even my boss. During my time as a student, Mr. Cashio was the AP of Discipline. Years later, he became the principal of CMS. He hired me for my first teaching position straight out of college in 2007. Then he hired me back as the librarian when their librarian retired last January. I’m so thankful that I’ve had the chance to work for such a great man. Only under a leader like Mr. Cashio can a faculty be as close as family. Earlier this spring, he announced that he would be retiring at the end of this year. He will be missed, but we wish him many many relaxing and joyful years of retirement.

Mr. Cashio during my time as a CMS student:

These past few weeks have been stressful and hectic. The current library is packed and ready to go. The library at the new school is almost ready. Lots has been accomplished, lots of work lies ahead. We have a beautiful building we are moving into and we have amazing new leadership that will help our school continue to excel and grow. There’s so much to look forward to for next school year and beyond. But today, I’m taking the time to let myself sit with some memories and be thankful for what we’ve all been blessed with these past years at CMS.

 Old CMS Library in all it’s glory (after I got in and decorated!):

Old CMS Library, all packed up:

New CMS Library, ready to move in: