"A"

"A" was in my orchestra class at Hazelwood Middle School. During the first week of school, I always tell students a little bit about myself and do ice-breaker games to encourage them to do the same. One of the things I always share with my students is that I am a foster parent and I explain what that means to my younger students. I am always so intrigued by the discussions and openness that my students have about their own experiences with foster care, kinship placement, and adoption! "A" was one of the students that immediately said "Oh! I was in foster care before!"

About a month later, I noticed a juice box on my desk as I set up for class. A couple days later, another juice box. The day after that, a milk carton and a breakfast bar. It finally hit me - one of the students was dropping off items from their cafeteria breakfast for me. "A" came up to me after class that day and said "did you get my present?" "Oh!" I exclaimed "So you are my little breakfast angel who has been helping me get ready for class each day! Thank you for taking care of me. But, that breakfast is for you. Did you get enough to eat?" She beemed, said yes she had enough to eat, and told me that she just liked sharing.

Throughout the rest of the year, I would get an occasional juice box, or maybe a pop tart. The sweetest part of her generosity was that I knew she wasn't wealthy. You aren't given much information as a teacher for each student, but you can start to see patterns - addresses in lower income parts of town, disconnected phone lines, students wearing the same clothes or shoes, etc. I didn't take for granted that fact that rather than save this food, she was sharing it with me.

The next year, the juice boxes stopped. "A" was unenrolled. My district is very transient, so this wasn't unusual, but it's always hard to see students go. However, I know that somewhere, another lucky teacher is probably getting some little surprises on their desk and I hope they can enjoy having such a wonderful young person in their class.