She's Quite a Character
She’s baa-a-a-ck!:) Although I was temporarily derailed by track out and two months of strep throat, I’m finally back with some stories to tell! Thank you to those of you who are so kind and interested enough in our circus to check regularly for my posts. It’s nice to know that we have such great friends and family, and that you actually enjoy reading about our “pleasant chaos.”:)
You know, becoming a parent (or loving children deeply in any capacity) has a way of softening your heart beyond anything you might ever have dreamed. Riley won an award this past week. We were so very proud of her (We are every day…she’s come so far and she’s such an amazing little girl!), but we didn’t expect to need tissues at the assembly, so we didn’t take any.
Riley didn’t know she had won something, but her teachers gave me a “heads up,” so I knew what was coming. Kevin rearranged his work schedule so that he could get in to work early and be home in time to join me at the assembly. Fortunately for you all, since he was there with his camera we got some great pictures of the event. Whenever I try to take pictures in gymnasiums, they turn out dark and blurry and generally not very exciting. I LOVE that Kevin knows what he is doing!
When Kevin, Zoe, and I got in the gym, we spotted Riley right away. She was sitting on the gym floor with her mainstream first grade class. As soon as she saw us, she got excited and started telling all of her friends, “My Mom and Dad and my sister are over there.” She left hand-flapping behind quite a while ago, but I love that when she’s really excited it still comes out all over her body. She was fidgeting and moving up and down and stealing glances backward in our direction until the assembly started.
At our elementary school, the kids focus on good character traits all year long. Then sometime toward the end of the school year, each teacher selects one student to win a character award for displaying good character all year. While many of the teachers commented that it was very difficult to select just one student for the award, this gave them an opportunity to say some very personal and special things about the child receiving the award and the way he/she had impacted the class throughout the year. Riley was chosen to receive the character award for her AU class, and her teacher was at the end of the line of teachers waiting for the microphone (this was a K thru 2nd grade assembly).
The moment Ms. Heidi said, “The character award for my class goes to Riley Henegar,” Riley jumped up. She was so excited, and it showed on her face and in the way she walked up to the front. She could hardly contain herself, but when she got up there (and Ms. Perry–the principal–helped her understand that she should stay up there for a few minutes and stand facing the other students) she tried to act all composed and serious. You can see both things in the pictures Kevin took. It was so precious to know that she was so excited and then to see her try to behave “appropriately.” I felt Kevin’s shoulders shaking the minute Riley jumped up, and then I was crying about ten seconds after that because Riley’s entire first grade regular ed class started cheering for her.
As Riley’s AU teacher started telling about Riley and her friendliness and perseverance with hard work, I could tell that her voice was quavering a little (and she told me afterwards that the reaction from Riley’s regular ed class had also gotten to her). After the assembly ended, three other teachers who had been sitting together against one wall (Ms. Jaime, our Occupational Therapist, who doesn’t actually see Riley for therapy but still loves her; Ms. Jennifer, who taught Adam in the pre-K AU class last year and remains one of his favorite people in the whole world; and Ms. Michelle, who also teaches in Riley’s AU class) told us that they too had been crying while Riley received her award. I left thinking, “That child has no idea how many people love her!” I also now know that when high school graduation eventually rolls around I will need a LARGE box of tissue (maybe two) for the event. I will also need about 10 long rows at least, because we will be sitting there crying with grandparents, aunts and uncles, dear friends from our neighborhood and church, and all of these phenomenal teachers who have blessed our lives with their friendship and hard work. I can’t put into words how fantastic we feel knowing that we are surrounded by so many people who love and appreciate our children exactly as they are and then stand beside us to cheer them on through every milestone.
Hearing all of those regular ed kids cheering for Riley was more wonderful than I can put into words. I know how much she wants friendship with her peers and also how she works at getting the social stuff right. Her regular ed teacher, Ms. Curley, has done a terrific job helping her students see Riley as she is–another kid in the class who just happens to have a different set of challenges. Ms. Curley shared with me that at the beginning of the school year, the kids weren’t sure what to think of Riley and even giggled sometimes when her words would get all garbled on the way out and the things she said didn’t make sense. The kids have always been impressed with Riley’s strong reading skills though, so Ms. Curley used reading as an example and asked the kids how they would feel if Riley (and the rest of the class) laughed each time they struggled with reading aloud. When the children admitted that they would be hurt by that kind of response, Ms. Curley pointed out that speaking aloud was Riley’s thing that she had to work on, and Ms. Curley encouraged them to respond to Riley in ways they would like her (and everyone else) to respond to them as they worked to improve. After that, the kids stopped laughing at Riley and started cheering her on. Every time she’d speak and it would come out right, the kids would congratulate her and call attention to her success. In the hallways, they’d stop Ms. Heidi and tell her about Riley’s progress.
Wow…what a difference a teacher can make in the lives of her students! When Ms. Heidi said, “The award for my class goes to Riley Henegar,” those kids in Ms. Curley’s class cheered as though they had won the award. What would the world be like if we all could learn that lesson as well as they did? I’m crying again just thinking about it.
