As I was catching up on blogs today, I ran across a picture of Dan McDowell signing a student’s yearbook. It’s a fun picture, but what struck me was that his officemate would find that funny.

Beacon kids love having their teachers sign yearbook. It’s one of the things I love about the place, is that we are very much a part of their experience. And a lot of us don’t just give it a quick "Good luck in college" signing, rather we really try to take the time to write something about our experience with the student. Heck, we write anecdotal reports twice a year, so maybe it stems from that, but it is something a bunch of us try to do.

I take it one step further. The first year I was at Beacon was our first graduating class, and I bought a yearbook and had all my seniors sign it. And I’ve done it every year since then, and it’s been a lovely tradition. Early on, some of the teachers thought it was a bit weird — and I am sure some still do — but I’ve managed to get some folks to adopt the tradition with me.

For me, I have them all in the bookcase right near my desk at home, and yes, I do take them out and look at them from time to time. It makes the kids come alive again as they were then — and for many of them who come back — it’s an incredible contrast to think about who they were then and who they are now.

It goes back to something I really truly believe — for high schools to be effective, there must be a transaction. We cannot expect to change our students unless we allow them the chance to change us. We cannot expect them to care about the four years they spend with us unless we do too. That’s why I keep having kids sign yearbooks because it is a measure of the time I’ve spent with them and the memories I have with them as much as anything else. Each yearbook is a reminder of the kids who changed my life in those four years, and that’s a wonderful thing to have.