Joy

‘Tis the season for Joy. Today was a great day, and it made my teacher heart cry. Today was one for the highlight reel.

3 years ago, this week, I bought a kid some folders and a backpack. He was a second year freshman, and a pain in my rear. Of course, I taught him 8th period. When else? I bought him the backpack so he couldn’t tell me all the reasons he didn’t have his work any more. That was my snarky reason… But the real reason was because I saw so much in him and I wondered if he’d ever see it in himself. It turns out that just a few years before, he had been at the top of his class: with commended scores on every standardized test, and real dreams. But him mom passed away, and life went on, and he didn’t. My heart hurt for this kid because I’d been there. Except, my downturn lasted 6 months, not almost 6 years.

After many other obstacles in his path and a time of recovering the credits he’d fallen behind in, I learned that he earned the credits necessary to graduate, as of today. He isn’t my son, but I’m just as proud as I know I will be on the day my sons graduate high school. I  haven’t been his teacher in three years, but I’ve never stopped praying for him. So today I cried tears of joy for him, and for the reality that though education is often viewed as a system in shambles, there are places where what we do is working. It worked for this kid, and that makes everything worth it.

-CL