BUFFALO, N.Y. — End of the year traditions have been in full swing since early June in Angela Reeb's second grade class at Buffalo Public School 99, the Stanley Makowski Early Childhood Center.
"Today all of our butterflies emerged, we got them about two weeks ago, and we will release them tomorrow, so that's going to be a really exciting experience for them," she told 2 On Your Side when we visited her classroom earlier this month.
All year, Reeb has been trying to make things feel normal for her students, even though she still has yet to meet some of them in person.
"Most of my kids, I would say about 13, wanted to come back in person," she said, after they started the year fully remote. "I still have about seven or eight online and they actually do come online every day, all of them."
Mrs. Reeb has been concurrently teaching the remote students and the in-person class since their school re-opened. While it was a struggle at first, they all got used to it, and found there were some plus sides, too.
"I've been able to connect more with parents. They've been able to share their rooms, and their pets, so it's actually been a good experience," she said. "I'm glad it's over with, but we made the best of it."
This isn't Mrs. Reeb's first job serving the community. She was a nurse before deciding to follow her dream of working with children.
"Then at age 30, I said it's time for me to do what I want to do. My passion in life," she said. "So I went back to school and I got my teaching degree, and it's not a job for me. It's a passion that I enjoy, coming to work every day. I look forward to it, and there's nothing else I would rather do in life than to be a teacher and make a difference in the kids lives."
And as Mrs. Reeb releases her little butterflies off to third grade, some of them shared messages of thanks for her.
"I will miss Mrs. Reeb because I had her for first and second grade and she is really, really fun and funny," one student said.
"I'll miss you Mrs. Reeb, I'll miss all the stuff that you taught me," said another. "I love when you take us outside. Love you, you're the best teacher in the world. I'll visit you next year."
"I will miss Mrs. Reeb because she's the best," said a third student. "Thank you Miss Reeb, I will miss you a lot."