Guest Post, plus: School Phobia
Thanks to Lisa at Mommy Mystic for inviting me to guest post. I like Lisa's writing. She's a good thinker and she expresses herself clearly in a subject area where this isn't always easy.
And thanks to Jessica, a first grader at Hilltop School in Somersworth, New Hampshire, perhaps twelve years ago, for inspiring the poem that concludes my guest post - plus what follows below. So many kids were an inspiration to me during my twenty three year career; I just hope they learned half as much from me as I did from them!
Erin and Jessica Teach Me How to Help with School Phobia
When I knew Jessica, she was a first grader with golden blond hair that was neatly pulled back to reveal an open face with strikingly blue eyes – not light blue, but dark, and with large black pupils. Although Jessica had a good sense of humor and was quick to smile, she was usually quiet and serious.
She was the tallest child in her class. Jessica wasn’t heavy or gangly, and in fact was a beautiful little girl, just big for a first grader. And this wasn’t because she was older; Jessica was on grade level.
She was referred to me for school phobia. Her mom had a tearful struggle on her hands every morning trying to get Jessica first out the door and then onto the bus. The good news was that once Jessica got to school, she was fine. The bad news was that her absenteeism was a cause for growing concern.
After one or two meetings with Jessica, I happened to be in her classroom early one morning. Her best friend, Erin, was aware that I’d become involved. The one thing that Erin and Jessica clearly had in common was that both girls were kind and thoughtful. Everything else was opposite: Erin was not only chatty and extroverted, but the tiniest girl in class! She moved, spoke and thought quickly. And that morning, she turned to me to exclaim, “Mr. Martin! That’s Jessica’s bus! I wonder if she’s here?”
“Let’s go check!” I said. Erin called out: “Hey Kimmy, Lisa – let’s go see if Jessica came!”
I followed the girls out onto the playground but stayed back to watch Erin and company run to stand by the bus door. As Jessica descended the steps, I saw her face turn from very serious to surprised to a beaming smile as her friends squealed, jumped up and down and hurrahed a brief but highly energetic elementary school cheer!
From then on, every morning I’d head down to Jessica’s classroom at her bus arrival time. Jessica’s greeting squad would have already assembled itself or would eagerly do so with a prompt from me. Jessica enjoyed celebrity status for another few weeks; by then her school phobia was gone, never to return.
And thanks to Jessica, a first grader at Hilltop School in Somersworth, New Hampshire, perhaps twelve years ago, for inspiring the poem that concludes my guest post - plus what follows below. So many kids were an inspiration to me during my twenty three year career; I just hope they learned half as much from me as I did from them!
Erin and Jessica Teach Me How to Help with School Phobia
When I knew Jessica, she was a first grader with golden blond hair that was neatly pulled back to reveal an open face with strikingly blue eyes – not light blue, but dark, and with large black pupils. Although Jessica had a good sense of humor and was quick to smile, she was usually quiet and serious.
She was the tallest child in her class. Jessica wasn’t heavy or gangly, and in fact was a beautiful little girl, just big for a first grader. And this wasn’t because she was older; Jessica was on grade level.
She was referred to me for school phobia. Her mom had a tearful struggle on her hands every morning trying to get Jessica first out the door and then onto the bus. The good news was that once Jessica got to school, she was fine. The bad news was that her absenteeism was a cause for growing concern.
After one or two meetings with Jessica, I happened to be in her classroom early one morning. Her best friend, Erin, was aware that I’d become involved. The one thing that Erin and Jessica clearly had in common was that both girls were kind and thoughtful. Everything else was opposite: Erin was not only chatty and extroverted, but the tiniest girl in class! She moved, spoke and thought quickly. And that morning, she turned to me to exclaim, “Mr. Martin! That’s Jessica’s bus! I wonder if she’s here?”
“Let’s go check!” I said. Erin called out: “Hey Kimmy, Lisa – let’s go see if Jessica came!”
I followed the girls out onto the playground but stayed back to watch Erin and company run to stand by the bus door. As Jessica descended the steps, I saw her face turn from very serious to surprised to a beaming smile as her friends squealed, jumped up and down and hurrahed a brief but highly energetic elementary school cheer!
From then on, every morning I’d head down to Jessica’s classroom at her bus arrival time. Jessica’s greeting squad would have already assembled itself or would eagerly do so with a prompt from me. Jessica enjoyed celebrity status for another few weeks; by then her school phobia was gone, never to return.
Posted by Paul at 7:18 PM Permalink
4 Comments:
I heard a story once about a hostess whose parties were always big successes and well attended. With the arrival of each guest the hostess would show great delight and gush something like,
"Oh good, you are here." She made each guest feel especially liked and especially important.
Either I'm being boycotted or this is what happens as you become more bedridden and put in less blogging time.
Maybe I should do a post on time management when you have about three productive hours a day. Maybe nobody would read it.
Kind of a Zen koan I guess.
That's a good thought. When I consider it further, I realize I've been on both the giving and receiving end of many such "little" gestures that always matter at least a little and sometimes a lot.
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