an open letter to the kind student

dear kind and decent student,

I am grateful for all my kids. The shy ones, the quiet ones, the weird ones, the smart ones, the too smart for their own good ones, the silly ones, the class clowns, the teachers' pets, the athletes, the bookworms, the i'm-just-here-because-i-have-to-be ones, the sad ones, the puppy-love eyed ones, the ones with awesome&meaningful questions, the one that is always willing to participate, the ones that write me notes, the ones that leave me shaking my head, the ones that are still in my head with pride as I'm falling asleep, the ones that are still in my head with worry as I'm waking up-
every.single.one of them.
I love 'em.

but you, kind kid, I am most grateful for you.

thank you.
thank you for being exactly you.
thank you for coming to class on time and sitting in your seat and getting your work out.
thanks for saying hi to me in the hallway on the way to your other classes.
thanks for waiting your turn and sharing and cleaning up.

but most of all, thank you for being the one I know I can trust with the kid that no one else wants to partner with.

Maybe it's the kid who doesn't ever have their work, or the kid of 1000 immature jokes, or the kid who isn't so good at hygiene yet, or the kid who is so quiet and shy, or the kid who talks about off topic subjects that no one else has ever heard of, or the kid who is a perfectionist, or the kid who gets so mad they crumple their paper up in a ball, or the kid who won't stop tapping the pen, or the kid who answers all the questions without raising their hand.

thank you. thank you. thank you.
to the ends of the marking period, to the ends of the school year, to the ends of all the Earth.
thank you.

I know I rely too much on you, I know I probably take advantage of your patience and kindness too often. I also know I don't nearly enough tell your momma (or coach, or dad, or grandma, or other teachers, or whoever it is that you care about) how your kindness changes the dynamic in our classroom. How you are my most favorite kid because of your goodness and patience. I am promising you, I will try better on this.

but for good measure - just so it's clear -
How grateful I am that I get to be your teacher.
How grateful I am that your peers get to be your classmates.
How grateful I am that our school gets to be your alma mater.
How grateful I am that this world, who needs you so badly, gets to have you a part of it.

thank you kind kid.
your indebted forever teacher.
xxo

ps1. teachers teaching a kind kid, please tell that kid's momma (or coach, or dad, or grandma, or other teachers, or whoever it is that they care about) how awesome it is to have them in your class.

ps2. parents raising the kind kid - you are doing things so right. please write a manual.