~it was fitting to have a visitor~

It was fitting that we had a visitor in our classroom yesterday, a veteran of the Vietnam War.  Lizzy's grandfather came to see us and talk about what it was like to be a soldier at that time.  The kids listened intently as he showed them his Army uniforms and one of them was of particular interest to me.  As he held up his dress uniform, he showed the kids the emblem on the upper coat sleeve that denoted his ending rank of "Specialist 4th Class".  Once I heard him say that and my eyes caught sight of it myself, it brought back a wonderful memory from long ago.  I asked him if I could look at it up close and I did.  It was then I recalled that my brother Mike, an Army veteran of the Vietnam War himself,  was a Specialist 4th Class as well.  As a fifth-grade girl now so very long ago in the little south central Kansas town of Haven,  I'd seen the very same insignia on his clothing and I paused for a moment to remember that.

Ironic as my life sometimes seems to me, yesterday was even more so.  November 12th marked not only a visit from a great man who wanted to share with his granddaughter's class of first grade students his experiences as a soldier, it was also the 7th anniversary of my brother's death from ALS. Although thankfully my brother came home alive from Vietnam, in the years that would follow he would keep most of those experiences to himself.  He just didn't speak of it.  I thanked Lizzy's grandfather for so doing in our classroom.  It was important to me that my students hear his message.

Right before he left, we did the Pledge of Allegiance with him.  He was so kind as to hold "Old Glory" for us.  The kids stood straight and tall and probably did the best job ever of saying the pledge to their country.  It was nice and fitting that a man who had fought for our country in a war that wasn't all that popular, to be there standing like a giant among those little people in our classroom.

After a few questions to him, I told the kids something that I really meant sincerely.

"Children, listen to me.  Do you know that you have just learned a "life lesson"?  There is no book on my desk, no lesson plan that could have ever taught you what this man has just told you about.  These kinds of lessons are important to learn.  Maybe, even the most important.  I want you to learn them and keep them in your heart and on your mind always. Please don't forget."

I'm one of the "old-timers" at school but that's ok.  It's kind of fun to actually be one now.  I appreciate so much the amount of hard work that educators in my school and every other school in the nation put forth each day to make sure that students receive the education that they deserve and need to succeed in this life.  We all check and recheck how our curriculum and instruction aligns with the standards.  We do the very best we can, given the time allotted to us.  We hope for the very best results for all of our students on tests that lie ahead of them.  No one is slacking off. There are cars in the parking lot long before school begins and cars that remain long after school is out.  Some are there on the weekends and if they are not at school on Saturday or Sunday, they are more than likely working on things for their classroom at home.  No one gives up.   I commend everyone I work with for giving way more than 100% to the jobs they are assigned.  God bless you guys all for it.

But from this teacher's heart, I guess I have a message.  It's a hope that someone will see it and run with the idea.  Perhaps you are already doing it and if so, that makes me most happy and the message, most respectfully given, is this~

"Dear friends and colleagues every once in a while look for an opportunity to teach a life lesson.  Close your teacher's manual and walk away from your desks and Smartboards. For that moment in time, don't even worry about whether or not what you are ready to share with one another is on any of your state's standards.  Sometimes you have to say, "It's ok if it is not."  Chances to offer a lesson such as these come in the strangest of places and the weirdest of times during the day.  But they are there and you will see them if you only look for them.  "Lessons of life" provide character building and refining for your students but they also can and do give you as the teacher, a chance to continue to refine your character as well.  I stand firmly behind this belief~a child can be the best reader in their class or the smartest mathematician.  Their writing can be awesome and wonderful.  But what about their character?  What about their heart and conscience?  To me, those things matter the most.  Teachers and friends everywhere in the field of education, I thank you all for everything that you do on behalf of a child.  They need you to be there for them and guess what?  You always are."

Time went on~

Blessed beyond measure to be a teacher, even still.