12/10/2023
Always be kind. My mom shared this story with me years ago and I think of it often with my students.
“Every year before school starts, I look at this old metal pitcher and remember.
When I was a brand new school counselor, the school secretary, nurse, attendance secretary, and I used this to wash a sweet little girl’s hair in the sink in the principal’s office restroom on several occasions.
I don’t even know how I ended up with it.
What I do remember is this sweet baby, and countless others who just needed all the things school had to offer…safety, love, grace, compassion, food, electricity, security…
Not because her parents didn’t love her. Not because she was being neglected. Not because they didn’t want more for her.
They were doing their best. They sent us their best. They wanted so much for her. It was just hard. Sometimes the paycheck and the utilities ran out before the week did.
So, we washed her hair. We dried her hair. Her mama sent her dirty school clothes to school in her backpack on Thursdays so we could wash them and send them back Friday for the next week.
I remember going to see her momma at work to see how we could help. She was embarrassed at first, but then she felt grace. She let us help her family in a most vulnerable and tough time in their lives.”
There’s an African proverb that essentially says, “A child not embraced by the village, will burn it down to feel its warmth.” They are our children. This is our village.
Teachers all over the world are embracing our children day in and day out.
If you can’t join in and support us, mind your business. If you aren’t part of the solution, you are part of the problem. You NEVER KNOW WHAT ANOTHER PERSON IS GOING THROUGH. Be loving. Be gentle. Be fierce in the things you are passionate about.
“Do small things with great love.” Sometimes the “small” things are the biggest things.
