Second grade immigrants

When I picked up my daughter at school yesterday, she ran up to me with irrepressible excitement (we don’t repress in our home, anyway).

“Guess what guess what guess what??? You’ll never guess!!! Guess what’s going to happen tomorrow???”

Really, I hadn’t a clue. Was Hannah Montana coming to their school? No, it must be bigger than that. Maybe a field trip to World’s of Fun? Nah, I would definitely have signed up as a parent sponsor for that one (insisting, of course, that I only be assigned kids tall enough to ride all the coasters). Obviously, I was never going to guess.

“Courtney and Caleb are moving into my class! And not just Courtney and Caleb, but all the kids from their class!! Their teacher is moving to a 4^th grade class and since we had room in our class they’re all going to join us! I’m so excited.”

She then went on to tell me, taking only one breath every 5 minutes, about all the preparations on which her class had been diligently working. They had colored a welcome sign AS BIG AS OUR CAR!!! They had rearranged the desks. And most importantly, their teacher had been training them on hospitality. Here are a few of the basics as well as I could gather:

1. Welcome them all with a spirit of kindness, using only kind words.
2. Remember that they don’t know all the customs of their new class. Take time to teach them the games, songs, and rules specific to this classroom. (Aliyah thinks this will be HUGE fun, and because she believes this, it will be).
3. Remember that they bring with them songs, games, and rules that we don’t know yet. Give them an opportunity to teach us, too, which will increase the fun for all.
4. Be sensitive to the fact that they will miss their former teacher and classroom.
5. Make an extra effort to include them at recess and lunch.
6. And again, do everything with an attitude of kindness. (Aliyah reached her arms forward, palms facing up, every time she said the word “kindness.” Her teacher must have taught her this welcoming gesture).

There was, of course, a letter to the parents in the backpack. It covered all the important, adult facts such as class size remaining within district standards, the increased enrollment in 4^th & 5^th grades necessitating the shifts, the consideration for maintaining gender, ethnic, and reading ability diversity when forming the new classes, the school’s continuing dedication to academic excellence. All very important stuff, yes, but somehow not coming close to communicating the joy that this occasion inspired. There was not a single “woo-hoo!” or “guess what??!!” in the whole letter.

Her teacher is some kind of genius. She has taught her class to find the positive in a necessary reality. The negative could have easily prevailed- the classroom will be more crowded, you’ll have to share your books, this will disrupt our routine, you will have fewer opportunities to be line leader. These are all true, but why dwell on them when there are so many more wonderful things that come with welcoming new people?

The first thing my daughter did when she jumped out of bed this morning was fish a marble out of the pocket of the pants she wore yesterday.

“I’ve been saving this to give to one of the new girls as a welcome present today. I can’t wait!”