I promise to get to know you and care about what’s important to you.

I promise to listen to your voice and value your opinion.

I promise to believe the best of you, no matter what has happened in previous years or even previous days.

I promise to forgive you when your actions have hurt me – and I promise to allow every day to be a fresh start for all of us.

I promise to do what’s best for you, even when you may not like it in the moment.

I promise to encourage you, to keep you accountable, and to remind you that you can make great choices.

I promise to believe that you can do it,

that you can overcome obstacles,

that you can achieve more than you think you can,

even on the hardest of days.

I promise to be there for you on the sad days, on the lonely days, on the rough days.

I promise to love you when you feel like nobody else does.

I promise to have fun with you and not take everything too seriously.

I promise to guide you as you discover things about life and yourself.

I promise to encourage your potential and have patience with you when you’re not quite there yet.

I promise to open new worlds for you and help you see fresh possibilities.

I promise to allow all of us to fail sometimes so that we can learn how to get back up again and keep persevering.

I promise to be fully present with you and make memories, not regrets.

I promise I won’t be perfect. But if I model grace to you, I hope you can give it back to me.

I promise to always do my best for you.

Because you deserve it.

And that’s what I’m here for – every single one of our 180 days of fifth grade together.