Our children have been blessed with so many wonderful teachers over the years. Chris and Kieran have been lucky to share a few teachers along the way, in kindergarten, second grade, and next year in fourth grade.

Receiving her award

First up, she received the Portland PTA Teacher of the Year Award (nominated by families at the school). What a way to go off into the sunset! I felt very lucky to be invited to the banquet and get to see Renay (who hates public speaking) receive her award and give a great speech!

With her kids, staff, and school volunteers

With Maplewood colleagues

Love this photo but wish it weren’t so blurry!

With second-grader Chris

And second grader Kieran

Renay has been such a supporter of our kids’ activities– she’s come to countless of Kieran’s performances, and Chris’ too! This is from the last performance of Kieran’s Hullabaloo, with his third grade teacher and her husband as well as Renay’s niece

On the last day I sang with the kids (I’ve been going into Renay’s class the last two years to sing with the kids), we debuted a song I wrote for her retirement. (Part of why I volunteered in her classroom for two years in a row was selfish…I have always loved being around her and seeing her interactions with children.) I consulted other parents and her colleagues for ideas, and they sent me all sorts of wonderful anecdotes about their children’s relationships and memories of Renay. I used these treasures to write a song to the tune of “Waltzing Mathilda” (her favorite song). (One of the second-grade moms wrote the second verse after revealing a fondness for writing lyrics!) The kids practiced at home and I recruited the third graders to help, and we surprised her the Friday before the last day of school.

Receiving her gift certificate

Then we sang her song again. Here is the song, which reflects the individual care and attention she gave to each child in her class, and the unique love she had for teaching. And man was it impossible to make it through this song without crying!!

Who’ll Come A’Learnin? (for Renay Schaeffer)

1. Once a special teacher worked at a Portland school
Under the shade of a Maplewood tree
And she sang as she taught and changed the lives of children here
Who’ll come a’learnin, my children, with me?

Chorus:
Reading our stories, learning subtraction
Balance and motion, and spinning with glee
And she sang as she taught and changed the lives of children here
Who’ll come a’learnin, my children, with me?

2. Often jolly leprechauns sprang up near that Portland school
Looking for gold in the Maplewood tree
The teacher and the children kindly trapped the leprechauns
Who’ll come a’learnin, my children, with me? (Chorus)

Chorus:

Reading our stories, learning subtraction
Balance and motion, and spinning with glee
The teacher and children kindly trapped the leprechauns
Who’ll come a’learnin, my children, with me?

3. Sitting in the PTA, meetings stretching after work
Getting new carpets for story time
Customizing learning plans, tailoring to every child
Who’ll come a’learnin, my children, with me? (Chorus)

Chorus:

Reading our stories, learning subtraction
Balance and motion, and spinning with glee
Customizing learning plans, tailoring to every child
Who’ll come a’learnin, my children, with me?

4. Trekking off on field trips, studying the sun and rain
Yoga and xylophone to calm things down
Laughing and smiling, showing endless patience
Who’ll come a’learnin, my children, with me? (Chorus)

Chorus:

Reading our stories, learning subtraction
Balance and motion, and spinning with glee
Laughing and smiling, showing endless patience
Who’ll come a’learnin, my children, with me?

5. Piggy banks and story hats, studying the animals
Loving her students and parents too
Seeing the beauty in each and every precious child
Who’ll come a’learnin, my children, with me? (Chorus)

Chorus:

Reading our stories, learning subtraction
Balance and motion, and spinning with glee
Seeing the beauty in each and every precious child
Who’ll come a’learnin, my children, with me?

6. Now this gentle teacher’s career has traveled to an end
We’ll never be the same again, will we?
Children, parents, teachers, we’re all so sad to see her go
We’ll love Mrs. Schaeffer forever, won’t we?

Chorus:

Reading our stories, learning subtraction
Balance and motion, and spinning with glee
Children, parents, teachers, we’re all so sad to see her go
We’ll love Mrs. Schaeffer forever, won’t we?

That last verse is the one that gets me every time. I’m so happy for her that she gets to retire (and wait for granchildren), but our school will never be the same without her. We feel so blessed that we got two years with her!