Charles

Today Charles--the student who was locked out of his house--came to see me this morning. I was standing at my desk looking over some of my current students' work, and he seemingly appeared out of nowhere next to my desk. He thrust his report card in my face and proudly showed me his straight As for the second quarter. I gave him a hug and told him how I proud of him I was. His green Principals List sticker sparkled under the florescent light and his sky blue eyes matched its brightness.

When I was a student teacher, my supervising teacher told me about her former students coming down to see her. She was a first grade teacher, so it was easy to imagine her having this opportunity to see her former students. As a fifth grade teacher whose students move on to middle school, I don't hope for such things, but I have to say that I really enjoy seeing my former students come by. Watching them grow up is really neat, and it's very rewarding to see them as successful students, and to know that I had a part in that.

Last year, truth be told, Charles drove us all crazy. He was a pest who just wouldn't leave us alone. At the end of each day he would ride his bike back up to the school to say hello, and we just wanted him to stay at home so we could be in peace. I'm happy Charles still has his second home, and I take even greater satisfaction in knowing that my old team teacher and I are the first ones he comes to, even though he spent all of his years at our school, and had worked with many teachers who are still there today.