This is Why I Do What I Do
September 19, 1998. A
day I will always remember. The day my father's plane went down,
just three miles short of the runway during the Vietnam War. I had
just turned seven years old. I believe, with my whole heart and soul
that this is when my teaching journey began.
You see, I was that
trauma kid before it was even the educational initiative that it is
now. And when we talk about teachers being trauma-sensitive, I was
blessed to have a trauma-sensitive teacher before that was even a
“thing.” Mrs. Maxine Moore, second grade teacher at Hawthorne
Elementary School in Lincoln, Nebraska was that teacher for me.
After the “men in the
'official' Air Force car” came to our little duplex to give us the
news, I refused to leave my mom. I would hide under the dining room
table and cry. I didn't want to go to school. In my little seven
year-old brain I thought that if I left my mom's side, she would die,
too.
Enter Mrs. Moore and
Mrs. Shuman, the guidance counselor. My mom would get me into the
car...finally, and drive to the school. There, Mrs. Moore would
greet me at the door; EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. She would take me to my
classroom and give me odd jobs to do while she prepared for the day.
I now know, being a teacher myself, that she could have easily done
the things she gave me to do. She gave up her prep time for me in
order to help me get back into the school routine and feel
comfortable leaving my mom after my dad died. She instinctively knew
what I needed. She was a rarity in an era when most teachers were
very strict and by the book. She gave of herself for the safety and
security of her students.
But the story doesn't
end there! Mrs. Moore and I kept in touch, even after my mom
remarried and we moved to the farm. My mom made sure that whenever
we went to Lincoln, Mrs. Moore and I were able to see each other.
Years later, when I made the decision to attend The University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, it was the kindness and compassion of Mrs. Moore
that drove me to choose the field of education. Mrs. Moore was now
retired and still living in Lincoln. When I started college, she
reached out to me and told me she would love for me to come to her
home and talk about the things I was learning or to just get away
from dorm life, if I needed a break. I even had Sunday dinners with
her family.
You see, Mrs. Moore was
a huge influencers in my life and still is today. As teachers, we
may never know how far our influences will take our students. It is
through the love and compassion of Mrs. Moore and many other
countless amazing teachers I was blessed to know, that I am the
teacher I am today. So, on the anniversary of my father's death,
while I remember him with sadness and wondering how my life would
have been different, I also remember, with profound gratitude, the
compassion, kindness, and yes, love, of Mrs. Maxine Moore and I am
forever grateful that she was there when I desperately needed her. I
hope to be like her when I grow up!
I cried because a
child lost control and I was unable to help that child.
