A Final Farewell to East Middle School

By JENNIFER NGUYEN
Editor

      School's out!  It has been for about eight hours now, but I couldn't leave East without a proper closure.  I know I speak for most, if not all eighth graders, when I say East will never be forgotten, especially after all the school has been through!

      The class of 2016 was the first class that had the opportunity of going to the real East Middle School, not the warehouse, as sixth graders.  We were lucky enough to call the site of East our home for a whole two years.  Memories of the old building are still etched in the minds of many.  Students still recall images of being in the hallways, classrooms, auditorium.  They will be carried in our hearts forever. 

      Due to the damage from the May 22, 2011, tornado, East was moved to a temporary warehouse.  Nobody knew what to expect of this year.  The class of 2016, serving as eighth graders of the middle school, had no idea what living in a warehouse would be like; we were terrified! 

      As the year progressed, adaptations were made, and the warehouse felt like just another normality in our lives.  Not quite our home, like the old East, but more like an apartment you would rent while being away from home.  Classes were still continued.  Activities were still operated.  Life was as it should be. Even though we were in a new, unfamiliar building, East was with us.  In our students, teachers, and faculty. 

     Of course with all the school work and pressure of succeeding in behavior and attitude, came the urge of students for summer to come.  I remember thinking for countless hours how I couldn't wait for summer.  I couldn't wait to be out of school, to just be lazy!  Many eighth graders were especially looking forward to the joys of high school!  The time for relaxation and vacation was definitely anticipated...and soon enough, the time came.

     This school year went by like a breeze, and before we knew it, the end of school was soon approaching.  This meant the end of middle school for the eighth graders, and the beginning of high school as freshmen.  You would think we would be happy for summer, for a break.

 Yes, we were happy, but we were also sad.  The school year just went by too fast!

 The Last Day Assembly soon approached and so did the time for the farewells and good-byes.  The lasting minutes of the final day were filled with bittersweet moments.  Shouts of joy rang through the commons area for the fact that school was finally over, and we survived!  But among the joy, were many tears and remarks of sadness, of goodbye.  Not only were the eighth graders bidding the year good-bye, they were also giving their last farewells to their fellow peers, teachers, and most of all, their school.

     As the class of 2016 follows the path of life towards high school, I would like to take this moment to say good-bye to East not as the co-editor of the East Middle School Journalism Club, but as a student.  I would like to thank East for all the great memories it has provided us with, all the things we will cherish.

  Thank you to all the teachers and faculty of East.  In some way, you have touched our lives, and your effect has been impeccable!  I would like to give special praise and thanks to Mr. Turner, the Journalism Club sponsor and mentor, for making all this possible.  Thank you to all our fellow schoolmates, the sixth and seventh graders. You have made great peers, and more importantly, friends.  Thank you to everything that makes East what it is, East!  As the saying goes, "East is beast!"  So thank you, thank you, thank you.

  Tears spring to my eyes as I close with my final bid of farewell to East.  Through all the good times and the bad, we have overcome and made this school truly unforgettable.  This is why I will always remember you.

Goodbye East.  I love you.