For those who don't know, I teach 6th grade Science. I love my job and my students. To tell the students that I was having a baby, I did a warm-up of "Guess what it is" and showed a picture of my sonogram. They were so excited - and most of them said they already knew! They were even more excited/entertained when I told them that we started calling the baby "nugget" because we weren't sure yet if it was a boy or girl. At the end of the first day, I had students on the way out the door yelling, "Bye Mrs. Boyd. BYE NUGGET!!" It was adorable.
A student in my 8th period class made a sign that said nugget, then taped it in the doorway. At the end of the day, when the students were headed out of the room, they all lined up and hit the sign on the way out. I asked one of them what they were doing, and she said "We're on Team Nugget". I think that was the first time they had me teary-eyed.
Not very long after that, a group of about 6 of my sweetest girls started getting passes to leave my advisory (study hall) class - every day to go to Ronda Murray's room. Well, I started getting offended because I really adored these girls and began giving them a hard time. I would say things like "Mrs. Murray is one of my favorite people on this Earth, but every day?? I'm starting to take it personally..." and they would respond by shrugging their shoulders or not respond at all!! So I thought they just didn't like me.
Then, on the second to last Tuesday before school ended, only 4 people showed up in my Advisory class. That's out of 33 students! I was furious. I was endlessly questioning the few people that showed up in class and trying to figure out what in the world was going on. One of the girls calmly told me to walk outside. I did. All 130-something students I teach were standing outside with a banner that said "We love you Cole Dane Boyd!", balloons, cupcakes, bottled water and more gifts than you've ever seen. Again, the waterworks started flowing.
That was one of the best days that I've ever had. I can assure you that I will never forget that day. As a sixth grader, I would have NEVER thought of doing something like that for a teacher or anyone for that matter. I was moved beyond words and will never forget their thoughtfulness and kindness. I can't take or post pictures of students, and didn't get a chance to take pictures of the banner, so I'll just keep those as memories.
Have I mentioned that I love my job?? :)
