Filed under: Uncategorized
This past weekend, we sadly had a student pass away. She was 16-years-old. I’m not going into the details of her death, but only am writing this because when something horrible like this happens, it puts everything into perspective.
I went to the viewing yesterday and hugged many of her friends who were crying, and I cried with them. One girl in particular, who has already lost her father and now is suffering with the loss of her close friend, held onto me so tight that it made me realize that these are the important moments in teaching, not the lessons I plan on Shakespeare and symbolism, and how well prepared they are for state assessments. I know that this girl probably won’t remember that I hugged her while she cried 20 years from now, but I will. I will remember how much my heart went out to her and how badly I just wanted to reach back in her life and take away some of the pain and give her some happy memories. I’ll remember what an impact she had on me, and how her vulnerability allowed me to again see the importance of our job as teachers, and forget about the headaches we get from the everyday struggles of the classroom.
The students at our school will forever be changed by this tragic event, and our sweet student will be greatly missed.
