Goodbye to Sassy

The seniors checked out today. They came to classes and I signed their forms. Sassy passed. He barely passed, but he passed. I debated a long time as to whether or not I would pass him. I had the choir watch themselves. They don't listen to each other. They didn't sound very good half of the time. They sounded best on the pop stuff, not on anything classical. Certain words would go out of tune, but they wouldn't listen to me about pronunciation or how to improve things.

I had them watch the video of their final and write an evaluation. Sassy wrote about chamber choir: This is the crappiest choir to ever set foot on this school.

I called him into my office to talk. I've suspended him from my class about 6 days this semester, so he was very defensive.

MissD: I read what you wrote...
Sassy: Yeah, well it's true. (I don't remember what he said, but I knew he was defensive.)
MissD: I didn't call you in here to discipline you.
Sassy: I'm not blaming you for the choir sounding bad. It's our fault too.
MissD: We didn't have the same people and we had to adapt to that. You guys sounded the best on the pop and musical stuff. I thought about your grades for a long time. Even though you messed up on the piano test, you had enough points to get a D in the class. And you know your part for choir. I've decided to pass you. Out of everyone, you break my heart the most. (He looked at his shoes.) I know you have a good heart in there somewhere. I wish I had seen more of it. We both could have done without the battle. It didn't help either of us. (He studied his shoes even more intently.) I wish you good luck with everything in your life.

He left silently with his head low. I was in tears. I think I finally got through to him. Two of my choir girls let me know they planned to come back after getting donuts.
Alina: MissD, have you been crying? She gave me a hug.
Cali: We can get you a donut--chocolate covered. It'll make you feel better!
MissD: Aww thanks, but I learned something from the video, too. I really need to lose weight!