Unsung heroes

Teaching Pre K-8, Apr 1997 by Thomasina Mann

Thomasina looks for Acts of Kindness in her school.

After being stuck in traffic behind a car bearing the bumper sticker "Perform Random Acts of Kindness," I wondered if these exist in my daily life. I decided to make a concerted effort to seek out the RAK.'s by teachers in the middle school where I teach. Here's a sampling of what I found.

I started counting on the first day back after winter break. I heard the following from a seasoned colleague: "I always try to go easy on the first day back. I talk quietly and ease into the instruction mode because most students return with a U-Haul of emotional baggage." Five other teachers said this was their tactic, too, and it worked so well that by Thursday, all was normal again. Middle school teachers know the hormone hell that most students are marching through, unaccounted for in any teaching manual.

Lynn, a seventh grade language arts teacher, came rushing into my class to ask if I had just one copy of a certain book. The night before she had gone to four bookstores because she had six copies of the book and seven students who wanted to read it. No one will ever know that she drove close to 20 miles with her three-year-old twins in the back seat to find a book for one student.

I remember last graduation when Helen was in tears because none of the dance dresses in the "school closet" would fit her. Two weeks later, the PE teacher paid for a dress to outfit Helen for the dance. They bought a dress that Helen felt would also work for high school graduation in four years. I know all this because the teacher stored the dyed-tomatch shoes in my room to surprise Helen a few days before the dance.

Many volleyball games start at 5 p.m. There's always one teacher who returns to school because a student has asked, "Are you coming to watch me play tonight?" Only the teacher's family realizes the cost of this invitation.

Each year when we depart for a week of science camp with 90 sixth graders, my teaching partner brings a huge duffel bag filled with small stuffed animals. The first night, Bill just happens to have a stuffed animal in his pocket for homesick campers. Many a heart has been saved over the eight years I've watched this kind teacher work his magic.

Teachers are unsung heroes practicing Random Acts of Kindness every day. The author of that bumper sticker must have a teacher in the family.

"Thomasina Mann is a pseudonym for a Teaching K-8 reader The column is underwritten by a grant from Texas Instruments. The views expressed in the column are those of the author.