Christmas was just around the corner and Mrs. Greenfield decided to share Christmas songs and stories that she grew up listening to. Each afternoon just after lunch, a new song or a story was told. The students always looked forward to this. They quieted down and listened with great intent.
This was an excellent exercise for them to sharpen their listening skills and their communication skills, not to mention they loved to sing even if they were not the best.
One of the favorites happened to be Frosty the Snowman who magically came to life once a silk top hat was placed on his head. At first, the class was disappointed that Frosty quickly melted once the temperatures rose.
Mrs. Greenfield had to quickly reassure them that Frosty does come back every year once the snow begins to fall. sharing his laughter and songs with all the boys and girls. This particularly made little Bethany happy. She had cried once Frosty had said goodbye.
At the start of each day, Mrs. Greenfield opens the door to their classroom greeting the children with hugs and smiles. As they sat down ready to start their day she would tell them what song or story was in store for that afternoon.
“Today we will listen to the song “Rudolph”. It is about a young reindeer who was born with a noise that was very different from all the other reindeer. His parents loved him regardless.”
Bethany’s eyes widened with excitement. She hoped the morning would go by quickly so she could eat lunch and she could hear more about this reindeer named Rudolph.
Bethany was the first student in the classroom after lunch was over. She sat quietly as the other students arrived. Some of the boys took their time arriving. They were preoccupied with playing their game of tag.
“Billy, Chris, Nathan hurry up. Mrs. Greenfield will play the song for us as soon as you sit down.” Bethany yelled. Nathan rolled his eyes at her. She gave him a stern look back and he sat down avoiding looking at her again.
Their teacher busied herself connecting her laptop to the monitor on the wall above her desk and cueing up the popular children’s Christmas song. She looked over in Bethany’s direction. She was sitting with her hands folded on her desk with a huge smile on her face.
The music began to play. The animated characters captured all the student’s attention. When the reindeer wouldn’t play with Rudolph anymore Bethany’s smile turned to a frown. She buried her face in her hands with disappointment.
The music continued ” Then one foggy Christmas eve.” and Bethany looked once again at the monitor. Her smile returned. All of his friends returned. Rudolph became a hero and saved Christmas.
As Mrs. Greenfield turned off her laptop, Bethany asked her, “Why was Rudolph judged just because he wasn’t like the other reindeer?” Nathan blurted out, “He has a big nose!” Once again he received that same stern look from Bethany.
Her teacher thought for a minute to find the right words to say, ” Some people are quick to judge others without really getting to know them. All Rudolph wanted was friends to play with. It was when Santa asked for his help that his others wanted to be his friend again.
“Well ,that is silly. I hoped they all learned a lesson.” Mrs. Greenfield closed the lid to her laptop and said, “ I believe they did and maybe all of you have too. Now let’s get busy. Get your math books out and turn to page seventy-two.”
Bethany couldn’t wait until the end of the day and thank her teacher for another wonderful holiday song. She ran all the way home, anxious to share this song with her mom and baby sister.
Written By: Angel
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Children have the purest soles and do not see differences. Their world is seen through rose colored glasses.
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“Isn’t it ironic how society or your family tells you how to act, what you should look like, or even what you should become but inthe same breath they tell you to be a leader and not a follower?”
“Why can’t I just be me?” She had asked this question dozens of times to her teachers, her parents, or her boss at the burger shop where she worked part-time on weekends. Never once had she received a solid answer to this question?
“It is just how it is. People associate your looks with who you are. We know who you truly are but you are judged at first glance.” this was her mother’s go-to answer.
Those who really knew Shelby knew how smart, kind and honest she was. Others judge her without getting to know her. She felt this was unfortunate for them but it still bothers her. They were the ones who were missing out.
When she was out in any public setting, she tried not to draw attention to herself. It annoyed her but she would tell her friends, “It is what it is and I cannot change everyone’s mind.”
Shelby had a special relationship with her history teacher, Mr. Barkley. He would tell her there were many famous women in history who people thought were odd or silly but they turned out to be movers and shakers in the world. He always had a way of making her feel better.
See, what people didn’t know about Shelby she was in the top five percent of her class and she was in the running for class valedictorian. This honor is given to a student with the highest academic achievements.
Sometime this week or early next week it will be announced. The students had completed their last exams and those marks would be tallied to see who had won.
Shelby was home on Friday night surfing the internet on her laptop. She had finished all her homework earlier and really didn’t want to watch a movie with her parents. She made her rounds to all her favorite social media platforms, making comments or liking her friends’ posts.
Her last stop would be her emails before she showered and headed to bed. She noticed she had an email from her school and was curious.
She read, “Congratulations Shelby! We are proud to announce you are this year’s Valedictorian. You are expected to give the farewell address to the graduating seniors this year, so please prepare for this and allow us to review it before graduation.” It was signed by the principal of her school.
She took her laptop out to the living room where she knew her parents were. She could hear the television still on. “Mom, Dad, I have something for you to read.” She handed her laptop over to her mother.
Both her parents read the email at the same time and her mother squealed with delight. ” I am so very proud of you Honey. I know you’ve been working very hard all year long.”
Shelby headed back to her bedroom. She had showered and lay on her bed thinking of what she would say in her speech. She could be like all others in the past. Wishing everyone the best for their future but she wanted to speak from her heart.
She was up early the next morning and ate a quick bowl of oatmeal. She went to her desk to begin writing her speech. Shelby was old school when it came to writing. She used paper and a pencil.
She started many drafts but found she didn’t like how they sounded. She crumpled up pieces of paper all around the floor by the waste paper basket next to her desk.
Her mom knocked on her door lightly to see if she wanted breakfast with her and her dad. “No mom, I had some oatmeal already.” Her mom popped her head in the door about this time.
“Oh my, what happened here? It looks like a hurricane hit.” Shelby laughed and looked at her mom. “I am not having any luck with my speech. I don’t want to sound like a robot nor do I want to sound fake.”
“Don’t force it, Dear. The words will come to you,” She kissed Shelby’s forehead, picked up the crumpled papers that hadn’t made their way to the trash, then headed out to cook breakfast for her and her husband.
Her mom was right. Shelby took a break and went for a walk. This helped her clear her mind. She sat outside just watching people. Some who walked by her looked and then walked faster or they commented to those who walked with them.
That evening over dinner her mom asked her how the speech was going. “ I took a break. I will go back to writing again after dinner. I will have it done by Monday I am sure of this.”
After dinner, Shelby excused herself from the table. “If you need me, Mom, I will be in my room. I can help you with the dishes.” “No, It will be fine. You need to concentrate on that speech of yours.”
Shelby settled down at her desk and began to write and the words flowed through her pencil to the paper. her. She read it and reread it then shared it with her parents.
They felt she had spoken well and from the heart. She returned to her room and tucked it away until Monday when she would turn it in for approval.
On Monday afternoon the principal had called for her to come to the office. He handed back her speech to her and told her,” It was written eloquently and with great care. Great job!”
The week went by fast enough. Friday evening at seven the graduation commencement would be held on the sports field. Chairs would be set on the field and a small stage would go into place. Many of the seniors volunteered to help set up for the event.
Shelby and her parents had an early dinner on Friday night. After the ceremony, if they were hungry they could go out for dessert and coffee. For now, Shelby needed to get ready and arrive forty-five minutes earlier.
The evening was filled with excitement mixed with sadness. Some of her classmates will be going out of state to attend the college they chose. It was the end of one chapter and the start of a new one for all of them.
“Tonight we are here to celebrate our seniors. It is a time when they find out who they are and take the tools we have taught them and put them into good use. I wish all of them the very best. Without further ado let me introduce this year’s valedictorian, Shelby Mecham.”
You could hear her classmates say,” You go girl!” as the audience clapped. The bleachers were full of family members and friends of the graduating class. Shelby’s parents were on the top row hoping to have a better view.
Shelby stood there with confidence. She put her speech on the podium in front of her and adjusted the microphone.”Thank you all for coming tonight to celebrate with us.”
“As valedictorian, I can wish everyone the best in life and tell them they would be missed. They know they will. As much as we say we will keep in touch with one another our lives will drift apart.”
“During this time of our lives, we discovered who we are and what direction we will choose. Some of us will be wise in our choices and some of us will not.” She glanced around at her classmates and smiled, stopping at those who hadn’t taken high school as seriously.
“It is ok when we fail. We learn from our mistakes. Eventually, we will get it right. If not, we can always live with our parents for the rest of our lives.” She laughed along with the audience.
“If I can give all of you, my classmates and those in the audience, one bit of advice I would tell you not to judge anyone by how they look without getting to know them first.”
“My parents are the best in the world. They let me be me. I have pink hair this week and maybe next week I may have blue. I chose to have artwork on my arm. This is how I express myself. “
“Do these things make me a bad person? Do these things say I will be a bum in society? No, they don’t. They show I have the confidence to be who I want to be.”
“So, the next time you see someone who is like me don’t judge them, instead get to know them. I am standing up here on the stage tonight as this year’s valedictorian. If I was someone that was, in your eyes, a bad person, I would not even graduate. I am me.”
“Let’s get to the ceremony at hand. I know my fellow classmates want to get this chapter closed. Thank you again for coming.” As she ended her address everyone stood and clapped. Her classmates cheered. and whistled.
She glanced to the top row of the bleachers to see her parents smiling and clapping. Her dad blew her a kiss.
Written By: Angel
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I am far from perfect. I am guilty of judging someone on their appearance or my first impression of them. I can say that most of us have at one time or another in our lifetime. I can tell you honestly I have been wrong on many occasions.
My brother Samuel often received stares from others when we were out in public. People concluded there was something different about him and shied away.
Many made the assumption that mom must have used alcohol or drugs when she was pregnant with him. This is not the case at all. Sam was born with an intellectualdisability.
In the past, this was dubbed mental retardation, bringing much hurtful slang towards the ones with these disabilities. These slangs upset my mom terribly.
“My son is just like all others” she argued. “He laughs. plays and does everything your child does. It may take him a little longer to understand but he eventually does.”
I always protected my brother when we were at school. We were 3 grades apart from one another and thankfully, we are at the same school. He always knew where to look for me after school . We would meet up and walk home together.
Some days he would have to wait for me. I was the editor of the school’s newspaper and sometimes we had a short meeting after school. He never minded. He always found something to keep him busy as he waited.
As the school year pressed on, Samuel was more quiet than usual. He was never really quiet around me as he was with strangers. I chuckled somedays as he chattered on about his day . It was hard to keep up with what he was talking about.
“Hey Sam, why are you so quiet? Something bothering you? I asked. Samuel looked up at him “No.” I knew this was not true. Something was. In his own time he would tell me.
I guess a week or so had passed and Samuel wasn’t waiting for me in his usual spot after school. I waited for a few minutes and began to look for him.
I asked a few teachers, when I passed them in the hall, “Have you seen my brother?” and each resounded a “No, theyhadn’t.”
It was the last place I looked where I found him. He was huddled up next to the bleachers in the gym. He was covering his head and you could hear him sobbing.
I yelled out, “Sam, what’s wrong?” He looked up at me and you could see a mark on his face which obviously looked as if he was hit. Tears running down his cheeks.
“A bunch of boys kept pushing me around and calling me a retard. I tried to leave but they kept following me. I came in here and one hit me.” I was so angry at this point. I helped him to his feet and wiped off his face. His brother looked at him, ” Am I a …retard?”
“Don’tbe silly Sam. You are you. Things in life are a little more difficult for you and may take you longer to do but you are not a retard. Now let’s go home.”
The brothers arrived home and explained everything to their mother. Of course she immediately called the school to alert them on what happened to her son.
A couple of weeks had passed and Samuel was back to himself. The school authorities suspended the students for the rest of the school year for what they did to my brother. I was happy the school took this step towards this type of bullying but I wanted others to know what I felt.
I had asked the principal if I could publish an article, in our school newspaper, regarding this incident. He agreed to allow as long as he approved the contents before it went to publication.
I began writing right away and finished so it could go out in our monthly newspaper. I immediately took it to our principal for him to read the next day.
I knocked on his door and entered. “I have finished my article. Can you read it over so I can make sure it gets published?”
He handed his heartfelt article to the principal and he began to read.
Dear Readers,
Most of you know who my brother Samuel is but do you know him? Have you ever stopped to say hello or have a conversation with him?
Let me tell you about my brother Sam. He is the kindest person I know. He finds good in everything and has the purest heart. If he is capable he would do anything for you.
He has an innocence about him that many do not have. He never judges anyone nor says anything bad about anyone. This is more than I can say about most, including myself.
When my brother was born, I was three, I had no idea of his disability nor do I really see one now. He is my brother. We had our fights growing up but we also shared secrets.
We enjoy playing sports and watching scary movies on TV, even though Mom gets mad at us because we do not go to sleep afterwards.
Does any of this sound different from you?
No.
I do not want to go into details but when Samuel was tormented and hurt by fellow classmates it saddened me more than it made me mad. How could a person do this to another? How could they do this without really knowing Samuel?
Next time you happen to pass my brother in the hallway, why don’t you say hello to him. Get to know him. You will discover what I have about him. He is the best person I know and has taught me a lot. I am proud he is my brother.
Editor / Samuel’s brother
Caleb
The principal finished the article and handed it back to Caleb. “You did a wonderful job with this. Absolutely, send this to print.”
The newspaper came out and Caleb took two copies home with him. He shared one with his Mom and the other with Samuel. He knew Samuel wouldn’t be able to read it so he read the article to him.
As Caleb finished the article and looked up, Samuel leaned in with a bear hug. “I love you too!”
Written by: Angel
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Is this behavior due to the lack of understanding? Who is to blame for such actions? Is it the parents? The education system?
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