former students · poetry

Follow-Up: Leap Year Poem

Stacey Shubitz

On Feb. 29th, 2008, I gave my fourth graders a copy of the “Leap Year Poem.”  I asked them to hold on to the little slip of paper I printed it on and instructed them to e-mail me four years later.  I’m happy to report that four years later, they’re in eighth grade and some of them actually hung on to the poem!  The first e-mail came from a student (Who, I might add, completed 31 days of the SOLSC during the first year I led the Challenge in my classroom) who admitted to losing the paper, but remembered the poem.  He wrote:

Today is leap year day, 4 years from when you told our class to email you in 4 years. Well, that’s now. Soooo… here is a copy of the poem I believe was on the little sheet of paper I immediately lost.

His honesty totally cracked me up!  While he didn’t have the paper, he remembered the exact poem, found my email address, and sent it to me.  How awesome is that?

I hope yesterday’s leap day brought a smile to your face too.

Published by Stacey Shubitz

I am a literacy consultant who focuses on writing workshop. I've been working with K-6 teachers and students since 2009. Prior to that, I was a fourth and fifth-grade teacher in New York City and Rhode Island. I'm the author of Craft Moves (Stenhouse Publishers, 2016) and the co-author of Jump Into Writing (Zaner-Bloser, 2021), Welcome to Writing Workshop (Stenhouse Publishers, 2019), and Day By Day (Stenhouse, 2010). I live in Central Pennsylvania with my husband and children. In my free time, I enjoy swimming, doing Pilates, cooking, baking, making ice cream, and reading novels.

7 thoughts on “Follow-Up: Leap Year Poem”

  2. What a sweet idea, Stacey. I mail letters to my students each May upon their high school graduation. They wrote them when they left me in 8th grade, & are always so surprised to receive this envelope with their writing (they address them too). I will share your idea, but guess it’s a little late this time. I’m glad you were connected with some.

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  3. Wow, what a neat moment! It’s awesome that the one kid remembered the poem and remembered to email you, even though he lost the paper! I love the idea, and obviously your students did too! I’ve never really given much thought to Leap Days, but you may have inspired me to try to do something special to mark the day and then think back to it on the next one!

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  4. My grandfather taught me that little poem when I was very young. I still recite it to this day when kids ask me how many days in a certain month. Thanks for the memory!

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  5. I love the idea of having your students contact you on the next leap year. I teach 4th grade so 4 years later they would be in eighth grade, which happens to be in the same building. I could even have them come see me on leap year. Kids are funny! You never know what little piece of what you say will stick in their memory banks. This is my first day ever of SOLSC. I am excited to begin. Not sure if I have to include my link here and in the box below, so to be on the safe side I will do both. 🙂 http://yeahwritejanet.blogspot.com/2012/03/first-of-many.html

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