Bryant Elementary School teacher Matthew Ventresca has made 118 mistakes this school year.

His students have been eager to catch their teacher in a spelling mistake, math errors or misuse of a word and make a little mark on the dry erase board for every slip.

The not-so-subtle reminder has been steadily taking up more space on the dry erase board in Ventresca's classroom for the entire year.

Ventresca said it reminds him that everyone makes mistakes. But he's not the only one. On the last test, he asked his students to spell his last name for extra credit. Most of them missed it, he said.

Thursday was the last day of school, and Ventresca's last opportunity to make one final mistake. School let out at noon, and his students lounged on their empty desks after helping clean up the classroom.

Thursday was an easy day that most teachers and students have been looking forward to for the past month. Celebration was in order, and kids and teachers walked the halls carrying candy and cookies for their classes -- an out-of-the-ordinary treat.

"We're playing games and eating sugar," said Abby Dalbey, 9, with her third grade classmates chiming in, "Yeah, sugar!"

Their teacher Wanda Rumley said the last day of school she surprises her students with a final exam.

"It's not hard test, it's just things like take off your left shoe and jump on your right foot five times -- things like that," Dalbey said.

After the test, her students play games, and she lets them eat in class. Usually, the kids have to earn the opportunity to play games in class, but today, Rumley said, they'll go most of the morning until everyone gets a turn.

Wednesday, the students spent part of the day cleaning the classroom and emptying their desks.

"They had backpacks full -- papers, pencil boxes, books -- and some of them had extra bags full too," Rumley said.

The teachers at Bryant also took the children to check for lost items in the lost and found.

"You'd be surprised at how much we get," Bryant Principal Russ Van Hook said.

About three times a year, a heaping pile of jackets, hats, mittens and shoes covers a folding table in the hallway. At the end of the year, whatever isn't claimed will be donated to a local charity, he added.

At Bryant, Van Hook said the students will stay for lunch or take lunch with them when they leave. Their teachers will stay on until 3 p.m. for snacks of their own in the teacher's workroom and finish up with their grades before picking up their paychecks in Van Hook's office -- then school's officially out for summer!

Reporter Laura Tode can be reached at 447-4081 or by e-mail at laura.tode@helenair.com.