When it comes time to say goodbye to one's school principal, one can take many different kinds of steps toward honoring him or her. Students could all get together and create a poster signed and decorated by all, or perhaps each class or grade could create its own special project and way of expressing recognition of and gratitude for the principal's many years of service and hard work. One such
. project could be a poem written by students and other staff or perhaps selection of an appropriate poem already written by someone else. Perhaps a line or two from "Ulysses" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson would touch the principal's heart and inspire him to make the most of his retirement years. Goldsmith also says it well as he puts it all in perspective thusly: "O, blest retirement! Friend to life's decline/ -How blest is he who crowns, in shades like these,/ A youth of labor with an age of ease!". This lets the retiring principal know that the ones honoring him think he deserves this retirement as a reward for all of his years of work. What might be even more special to the outgoing principal is the students' original compositions. In this way, no one must rely on words already written by others if he possesses the confidence and ability to draft his own poem. These poems can focus on special memories that students and other staff members have of the principal. These could be amusing anecdotes or memories of troubled times made easier through friendship and working together. Poems could pay tribute to the principal's outstanding qualities or leadership abilities. Whatever the topic or content, the principal can appreciate the thought and work that went into the poem or selection of the poem. For more information on this topic, one can conduct an online search using criteria such as "poem for retiring principal" or "principal appreciation poems". http://www.retirement-quotes.com/retirement_poems.html or http://www.proteacher.net/discussions/showthread.php?t=7637
