At Solo and Ensemble on Saturday, a seventh grader's duet partner failed to show up for unknown reasons. Her mom made the trip to hear her even though she was in a wheelchair with a broken leg. Her younger sibling's birthday party was rescheduled so she could play. She dressed up and had her hair in an intricate braid with a fresh flower pinned into it. She waited over an hour until she was the last student left in the warm-up room. And she wasn't going to get to perform.
Rather than let that be her first Solo and Ensemble experience, the judge I was working with played the duet along with her before taking a little extra time to work with the student who was our last performance of a long day. She walked out smiling and feeling pretty important for getting to play with the judge when just 30 minutes prior had been near tears and uninterested in playing.
That is what teaching is about. Don't ever tell me that teachers don't care. Stories like this aren't the exception. They are the norm. I love my job.
No comments:
Post a Comment