People say, "It's not goodbye, it's just see you later."  It is, in a sense, but I've done this enough times to know that a very big part of it really is, goodbye.

Good-bye to a new Generation of Excelencia kids.
I started in this district 9 years ago.  Lesson planning with that textbook...and then handing it out...only to find out that most of my 8th grade class read at a 3rd grade level.  Guess I won't be using the text book.


Yesterday I handed my kids the textbook when we were working on non-fiction text.  With tears in my eyes, I watched them read it, understand it, and discuss it. My kids, today, argue books, play chess, and have college level conversations.  Today, I'd put my kids next to Scottsdale kids any day of the week.

9 years later...we have raised the bar at Excelencia.  Teachers are teaching more than they have ever taught before.  They're using effective strategies.  They know their curriculum upside-down and backwards.  The result: Kids are so much smarter than they were years ago.  Those teachers have changed a generation of kids.

Good-bye to my Un-Students
What an amazing group of people you are.  I love your sweet smiles and hugs.  I love the, "Hi Ms. Cartier!" in the hall when they're so excited to see you as if they've never seen you in real life.  I will miss the little Kindergarteners, "I saw you Ms. Cartier.  I saw you at the assembly."  I saw you too, sweetheart, 5 minutes ago.  As much as all of the kids that have come through room 304, you are ALL my kids.  I love you and I expect your best.

Good-bye to Excelencia Families
So many phenomenal families.  Families that have 4 kids at our school and are on campus every day for some event.  Flip cam in hand to capture the little moments of their kids lives, the little moments that are so big.

Families who started as tough conversations and ended with hugs.   Moms that cry to me because husband just left and now they're doing it alone...with teenagers.  Even the parents I never see except the sign suspension paperwork.  I know life is hard but we're a team.

To each and ever one of you, thank you all for trusting me with your kids for so many years.  It has been an honor.

Good-bye to My Class Families
I. HAVE. LOVED. BEING. YOUR. TEACHER.  Do you know how much you have impacted my life?  I have the best job in the world and with 100% of my being I believe that I ALWAYS get the best kids in the district.  I hope you know how much I will miss you and that I will think of you often.  I have high hopes for your futures.

I will miss the 8th graders...my first real class family.  A group of kids who hated reading when they walked in the door and wouldn't put the books down when they left.  Go out there and be amazing and I'll be right behind you.

I will miss the 7th graders...our first group to NAU.  The kids who came to me, ready to read and learn (Thank you Mary DeHaven).  My little eager beavers.  You're destined for greatness.  Believe that.

My 6th graders...what a year we've had.  You were such a tough group to motivate, one of my toughest.  And then you got motivated...and it was like a fire was lit and you just moved.   My favorite part of you was your honesty during PRIDE Blocks.  "No, we don't deserve 3 Integrity Blocks because some of us were mean to part of our class family on the playground." I always seem to remember my tough classes the longest and you are one I will never forget.  I love you, all of you.

To my amazing Student Council kids, thank you for spending your Mondays with me for the past several years.  It's those moments when I get to relax and don't have to teach any standards that are sometimes the best part of my week.  Thank you for being the best part of my week for so many years.

I feel so blessed that I was deemed worthy to be your teacher and I hope that I have done you justice.  YOU have taught me, more than you will ever know.

Good-bye to my Team
My team.  Our yin and yang.  From relaxed and zen to crazy and on fire, we are a well-balanced team.  My friend, who I have worked with for 3 years, I will miss the dailiness of us.  The person who has known exactly what it's like...every day for the past 3 years because she was in the trenches, right beside me.  Thank you both for loving our Excelencia kids so much.  That's something that can never be taught and you do it so well.  From hallway meetings to divide and conquer, I will miss it.

Good-bye to my Co-Workers
You are amazing people.  I see your faces in my head and I know that you are the reason our kids are where they are.  You work harder than anyone I know.  You jump on board for Flash Mobs, penny collecting, chants, and all of my requests.  Thank you.  I love you.  I respect you.  I will miss you.

Good-bye to my Co-Workers, My Friends
Some of my very best friends in the world have come out of Excelencia and I am forever grateful.

There are too many to list each one but I have and still love you all.  I love learning from you, chatting at the mailboxes or in the halls with you, laughing with you and sharing the day-to-day of it all with you.


My duty partner.  You are quite a teacher and mother and friend.  I can't believe I won't get to de-brief my day with you.  I have loved every second of getting to know you.  High expectations and more love for kids than almost anyone.

My reading buddy.  The most positive person I know.  You have taught me more about positivity and taking it in stride, just by the way you live, than any person on this campus.  I have more respect and love for you than you will ever know.  I love that you notice new bows in kid's hair.  I love that you hug your kids so often.  I love that you say, "I know God has a plan, " and really believe it.  I love you.

My school store officer.  Thank you for removing things from my plate because you know how awful I am at asking.  So many years of working with you.  I have watched you buy new shorts for kids who needed them.  Heart to heart conversations with parents in the parking lot.  Thanksgiving dinners for hungry families, all the while being a phenomenal mom to your own kids.  You are such a good person.  Cheers to our next adventures.

Miss Dee, oh how I will miss our day-to-day chats.  Thank you for being like a 2nd mom to me all these years.  You are incredible at what you do.  Thank you for holding it all together for the rest of us.

Science guru of Excelencia.  I'll never forget watching kids trickle into your room after school and you making time to chat with each of them...about life, family, issues, all of it.  You are so good for our kids.  You were born to do this job.  Huge hugs because I just adore you and I'm so glad I know you.

My lunch buddies.  Happy, kind people.  I have loved my year's of lunch buddies.  Discussing life, kids, families, exercise...it was all good.

My Excelencia boyfriends.  Oh yes, I have 2 or 3 on any given day because if you're 12 years old and see a teacher talk to someone of the opposite sex they MUST be your boyfriend.  I love you my OCD friend.  I love that you also have a problem with overcommitment.  I love that I can make fun of you for being the most ridiculously neat and analytical person I know.  You do great things for our kids.  You are the perfect male role model for our students who have never had a father figure in their lives.  You make me laugh with your dry and witty sense of humor.  I have loved getting to know you over the past few years and I expect the Happy Hours to continue.

My other boyfriend, my best friend.  I have no doubt that we will talk forever, but I know it won't be the same.  I love your classroom visits.  I love watching the kids love you.  You have developed relationships with so many kids and parents and it makes all the difference in the world.  Thank you for making me laugh and being one of my very favorite people.  I'm so glad I know you.   I love you and I love our relationship.  May the future for us hold at least a thousand more laughs, conversations...and let's be honest, arguments too.

Good-bye to Excelencia Past
It's a special place, isn't it?  Not every place is like 2181 East McDowell.  Thank you for what each of you have taught me about teaching, kids and life.  Thank you for letting me watch you put on your shows, captivate your audiences and keep them talking about you after you're long gone.  Thank you for being MASTERS of curriculum and instruction.  I have loved learning so much from you.  Know that your absence from our Eagle's Next is still felt.

FB, almost everything I know about curriculum and instruction comes from you my friend.  My favorite part was working side-by-side with you to do great things for kids.  You are truly a master at what you do and still the first person who pops into my head when planning lessons.  Thank you for coaching me in the classroom and raising me up with your high expectations for me, for the past 6 years.

Red, thank you for taking me in to Excelencia with open arms and party invites so many years ago.  I can only hope to do half as well in my next position as you did.  As a mom, a teacher, a chef, an administrator, a wife and a friend...you do it all so well.

South Carolina, oh how I still miss you and the Busy Bees.  Some of my favorite memories of that year were coming in to see the Busy Bees hard at work.  I can't believe you're off and I know LL will miss you oh so much...you'll be on my speed dial so be ready.  My hope is that I can do it 1/2 as well as you have.

SDeMar, it seems like we have come full circle, haven't we?  Bringing me over to Ex and now from Ex.  I can't wait to learn and grow and become a Lancer.

Science and Marilyn Burns Master, I don't know what brought us together but I'm so glad it did.  Years and years later kids talk about their 4th grade teacher who made them love math.  Wow.  What a legacy to leave.  As for me, I gained a friend and workout buddy who is an master teacher that I look up to and admire.  I love you so much.

Brez, where in the world of education would I be without my best friend yapping in my ear about Reader's and Writer's Workshop everyday?  Thank you for making me SUCH a better teacher.  From 22 year old scared teachers to where we are now, we've come a long way baby!  Thank you for sharing every step of this journey with me...I couldn't have chosen better.  I still hold out hope that someday I will, again, work with the teacher I hold in the highest regards possible.

Good-bye to my Admin Team
I have read that great leaders put systems in place that will sustain an organization long after they are gone.  Well done Excelencia.  Well done Admin.

As a group you work so well together.  You all bring such great things to the team.  Look out Excelling schools...Excelencia is off and running upwards at a quick pace.

Zumba friend.  
Out of nowhere, a few years ago, I had this new best friend...thanks to our little mutual friend SA.  I love you so much.  I love watching you get into the hearts of kids and figuring out what makes each one tick.  You will never know the profound impact you have had on those students but I've seen it.  I love the work you do but more than that I love our hundreds of chats.  Someone who gets it and makes me roll on the floor laughing in the process.

Juniors friend.  
I can't imagine a better person to split Dollar Days and Pizza Nights with.  You are organized and dependable and so good at what you do.  Thank you for listening and being open and expecting our best.

Mama Gina.
Just typing your name and knowing I'm leaving makes me cry.  You are everything good; my other mother, my shoulder, my mentor, my friend.  Years of collaborating with a master of education has taught me so many things.  I feel so lucky to know you and call you my friend.

Duck friend.  
From working side-by-side with you with your tough little 1st grader to watching you become a leader, you do it all so well.  You are total positivity, balance and high expectations rolled into one.  I aspire to be more like you.

My Jedi Master.