GUEST POST: Focusing on the Joy

I am so thrilled to share a guest post from a very special Lifeskills teacher, Ms. E. Ms. E. and I went to graduate school together and were friends from the start. I have an indescribable amount of respect for Ms. E. as a teacher, parent and friend. We teach about an hour from each other, but not a day passes where we don't talk more than once; Ms. E. is my sounding board, my voice of reason and one of my greatest cheerleaders. It made my day when she agreed to share a special moment from her classroom on my little blog. Get your tissues ready and enjoy!

A lot of Lifeskills focuses on joy. We find joy in doing things most people take for granted like field trips, going to the grocery and ordering for ourselves in a restaurant. We work hard to learn independence and the skills necessary to participate in our communities. 

One of my students exudes joy at every turn. He is happy to come to school, EVERY DAY.  It doesn’t matter how hard or seemingly insurmountable, the tasks are, he is happy to try.  We practice our conversation skills (a lot!) and every morning when we talk about our day, his response is always the same: “How are you?”  “I’m AWESOME.”  

And he means it. He is awesome. His life is awesome. Where some see the things he can’t do, he only sees the awesome things he gets to try.

His awesomeness is infectious. He can hardly walk through the hallways for the number of typical peers stopping him, or giving him knuckles, or shouting out his name. And on a very special Monday night in April, his joy was showcased for our entire School Board. 

Photo courtesy of Jim Bryant

Every month one high school student is nominated as our Student of the Month. One student out of 860.  In March, Michael was nominated as that Student of the Month. He, along with his parents and sister (and his proud teacher) were invited to the School Board meeting where he was presented a plaque and a wonderful dedication from our Principal:

“Take a second and think about the things that make your day awesome.  It could be a wide range of things, which include but are not limited to some of the following:  someone letting you into traffic, getting an unexpected grade on a test, or finding $10 in a coat pocket.  When our student of the month sets foot on campus, everyday is awesome.  Not because of the things listed above, but because every day is new and exciting.

Michael represents what we want to see in every student every day.  When you see him, he is excited about the day and the new things which are awaiting him. Michael appreciates all things he has been given. For example, this year Michael had the opportunity to attend home basketball games for the first time; the joy we saw in his face was similar to the joy we have all felt on Christmas morning.

If all of us could adopt Michael’s attitude and tried to be awesome, every second of every day, the world would change.  From this point forward, we would always be in charge of ourselves, never letting someone else dictate how we felt.  The power we have as an individual would be impossible to harness; this, ladies and gentlemen, is what we see every day when Michael comes to school.”

The tears were flowing as I watched Michael receive his award. Not because I was sad, but because I am so thankful he was recognized as a student to admire and look up to. I love when people outside my classroom see the awesomeness that I see every day.