A Note from a Teacher

Our granddaughter Avery Grace was in the third grade this year, and was blessed to have an outstanding teacher. I will call her Mrs. R., for privacy's sake.  I would like to share a note Mrs. R wrote to her class, which another teacher shared with the parents of the students in her class. Her words touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes as I read them ... Today I realized.... For nine months, I pushed you to do more, read more, study more.  I said, "Try harder, do your best, and keep working." I've repeated over and over, "Capital letters and punctuation make sense" ... drilled you on the parts of speech, vocabulary definitions, facts, opinions, and text structures.   I have watched you swing, run, jump, and fall. I've seen you shine. I've seen you fail. I have seen you grow. I have given you Band-Aids and stickers, lunch money, and hugs. I have asked everything of you and you have given. Today, in a simple art project ... as my hands guided yours ... I realized just how small your hands really are. Then I looked again and I saw how big your young hearts are. You have been my class for months ... you will be my heart for years! I wish every child could have teachers like Mrs. R to shape their young lives ... with love and compassion and kindness ... not only by teaching them the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic ... but to encourage them to be the best they can be at whatever they do. As I look at the happy faces of the little ones in the picture above, I pray that happiness will follow them all the places they go ... that innocence will guard them as long as possible ... that their sense of wonder will not be left at childhood's door ... that faith will guide their every new adventure ... and that the rest of their school years will be blessed with teachers like Mrs. R.