Here’s about how the conversation goes when I tell people I teach…

Stranger- “What grade?!”

Me- “7th grade.”

Stranger (with a super shocked, you’re crazy, look on their face)- “Wow! That must be tough.”

…some days I feel like we discuss appropriate behaviors more than we discuss novels or math problems, yes. Some days we make parent phone calls more than we want. Standing on the sidelines while our students struggle academically and experience tragedy is heartbreaking.

Then some days we are greeted with sweet treats like this.

One of my students stops to chat with me almost every day during my morning hall duty. We talk about baseball, his life, my boys, really anything he can squeeze in in about three minutes. I mentioned we had spent a Sunday looking at new houses. For a few weeks now he’s been telling me every time he sees a house for sale. Friday morning he told me about a great house with a big yard for the boys to play. Today he brought me this rolled up piece of paper that he’d definitely been holding the whole bus ride. Under that heart is the name, phone number, and address of a house for sale in his neighborhood.

“They have done a lot of changes to it so you will have to call that guy and he will let you see it. It has a big backyard for your kids to play, too.”

And right there, folks, is why I will tell all those strangers exactly why I show up every day. And exactly why we all show up every day. It’s the little moments like this one that keep us going. It’s not always an easy path but, honestly, what is?! ❤️🖤