This year, in the U.S., the last day of school for kids was in March or April. Yes, we have online learning, but I think the parents are looking forward to the end of it more than the kids are. Spending two hours on assignments at home is so much easier than spending six and a half hours in a school, not including drive time. The last day of school as writing inspiration can kick off all kinds of stories, whether I write about a traditional last day or how it appears in 2020.
Humor
By the last week of school, everyone involved, parents, teachers, students, and administrators, are done. Now they all mark time until the final day. A story about all these different kinds of characters, straining to hold it together until the final bell on the final day has a lot of comic possibilities.
My kids’s school system offers a lot of fun activities during the last days, such as camp, field day, and egg drops. Any outdoor activity with kids is ripe for a story of misadventures. When I helped with my oldest’s field day in kindergarten, one boy began screaming when he received a bloody nose during a game. I walked him up to the nurse’s office. When I reminded him that his class was now probably at the bounce house, he pulled himself together and rejoined his class, bouncing with the best of them.
If you aren’t familiar with an egg drop, it’s usually a challenge issued in junior high or high school. Teams are instructed to build a contraption that will prevent an egg from breaking as the contraption is dropped from greater and greater heights. Eggs, kids, and heights. I don’t really need to say more.
Nostalgia
When I was in junior high and high school, I noticed a change during the last few days or even weeks. Everyone relaxes, at least a bit. The teachers know they can’t teach any more. The kids know the teacher have lowered their expectations concerning learning. My mom would ease up on our night time routine.
As the evenings in May grew long and golden, I could sense the finality of what was happening. I didn’t want to repeat the school year. I came to hate school from the time I was in eighth grade. But it did seem like a time for reflection, looking back and looking ahead.
This thoughtful time is suitable for a story about a student who has regrets or maybe wants to accomplish something before the year ends, a teacher facing retirement, or a parent whose youngest child is finishing high school.
Beginnings and Endings
As I write this post, I realize that the last day of school can start a story or end it, but I don’t see how it could come in the middle. It just doesn’t feel right.
As a story starter, it can set the tone for a summer of misadventures, mysteries, adventures, or self-discovery. As an ending, it can wrap up a story that began with the first day of school or highlight how characters have changed during the course of the story.
For more ideas on how to use May as writing inspiration, visit my posts on graduation and other May holidays.
How would you use the last day of school as writing inspiration?
This year, May beats March as my least favorite month. Maybe the long, cold spring has irritated me. Or the school year has worn out its welcome, but I am more than ready to skip May and plunge into June.