Everyone in their life deserves someone who cares, someone who despite everything only wants good for them. Life isn’t fair though and some people never get that person. Some escape home with school and others escape school with home. See for a while my escape was school and I think that’s why this was so easy for me to do. “Write about a teacher who has done something so specific in their classroom that you feel needs deserved.” But this teacher doesn’t just do this for me, I feel as if I speak on behalf of a lot of people who may not have the voice to speak up. This teacher without mentioning I’m sure could be guessed by a lot of students. While all of us can say she loves her students endlessly this paper was meant to be specific. 

“Name one event,” 

“Write about a teacher who gets little recognition,” 

“Do you have a specific story?” 

“What makes her any different?” 

“We all know how much she lights up the room.” 

She deserves the world…

Mrs. Sitton makes me feel like I deserve the world. She is there with advice the second I walk through her doors. She doesn’t treat me like a “high school teenager” rather she treats me like I’m a person. 

I can remember one time specifically where I couldn’t hold myself together anymore. I’m not one to let my emotions get to me especially when I’m at school, keeping it together is all I can ever tell myself. I’ve never cried in this building, not once, until a few weeks ago. When the whole district was shocked with awful news. News that was pretty personal. Take the way I look at Mrs. Sitton now and put it into second grade me looking at Ms. Martin then. The elementary teacher I would run to as a middle school kid during open house for my younger brothers. The teacher who showed me the coolest granola bar I’ve ever seen. The teacher who would sneak snacks to me when she knew I was hungry. The teacher who I looked at as my best friend. Gone before anyone could say goodbye. I pretended like I didn’t hurt. It had been so long ago, right? I saw all the teachers’ reactions to the news and I started to just zone out. Stuck in the lunchroom with a huge amount of people that I did not want to see me lose it. So on my little reminder app, I texted her, asking if on her own lunch break if I could come sit with her. A simple “Yes” is all I needed. Within seconds I was with her. As I stepped into her classroom I immediately lost it, to the point where I couldn’t breathe. She dropped everything and came next to me with a small box of tissues. Over my obnoxiously loud cries I heard her sniffle. I’m not sure if she knows this but that made me lose it even more. At that moment I knew how much bigger her heart really was. Instead of just letting me cry she came and comforted me. She held me, rubbed my back, told me everything was gonna be okay, she showed me how much she cared. Something no teacher has ever done for me. 

I feel a sense of hope and a reminder from Mrs. Sitton, she reminds me of her. The way my heart loved that second grade teacher is the way my heart loves her. While that story may not seem like much to you, to me it meant the world. She has changed my life for the better. Despite that singular moment in time she pushes me to be my best self. She sees the good in me and wants me to succeed in life. She’s shaping me into the person I’ve always wanted to be. Her. 

So thank you, 

For comforting me…

For shaping me…

For creating me…

For loving me like your own…

For the endless advice..

For the reminder that someone does care for me…

For being the one most students feel comfortable around…

For putting your students’ needs before all of yours…

Thank you for being my escape from reality. 

Thank you so much Mama G.