For Teachers

With each Teacher Appreciation Week, I cannot help but think of Mrs. Bentley, my 2nd grade teacher.  New to the country and new to the school, I was still learning English and was terribly shy.  One day, my father thought it was time to trim my bangs a bit.  What began as a trim became a full-on cut. Some might call it

the pixie look.  I wouldn’t. I was so mortified that I refused to go to school that way. So I wore the only hat I owned, which was a woolen cap with a pom pom at the top. It was September.  There was a rule at school, of course, that we had to remove our hats and caps when we entered classrooms. I defied that rule, sat in my seat with my hat firmly on my head and my arms crossed tightly, and refused to make eye contact with anyone.  Mrs. Bentley did not say a word about my hat.  And whether through her example or her high expectation of how we speak to one another, no one said a word to me either.  At the end of the day, as she dismissed students one by one to the school bus, she called my name last.  She smiled and asked if she could have a peek at my hair.  Somehow she knew. “Oh, now I can see your eyes!” And with that, she simply said, “See you tomorrow.”

Because of this brief interaction with Mrs. Bentley, I did not wear that hat again.

There are so many things in a child’s life that take on such monumental importance - things that we as adults know are just temporary or fixable.  Hair will grow.  That friend will call.  There are other people to sit with. But to the child, it is the world.  Mrs. Bentley taught me to see the smallest of things and recognize their immensity when seen through the eyes of a child.  She taught me the power of quiet example. She showed me how to redirect focus and vulnerability. 

To all teachers, this week and those before and after, Happy Teachers Appreciation Week.