y is St. Patrick's Day--A day to wear green and celebrate if you're Irish. I think most of us celebrate without even knowing why--it's just fun to be part of the group. It's fun to be included.But, for me, this day has a different significance. Today is the one year anniversary of the tragic accident and death of my most challenging and beloved students, Natan. He was gifted and ranked high in the state chess rankings. He was bright and challenged everything I said. He was disorganized and never had his supplies with him. He walked down the halls with his shoulders bunched over, carrying all his books and papers, falling out of his binders, always rushing to class because he was always late. He was a member of the math team. He excelled in my debate class, as long as he didn't have to hand anything in, since he always lost his homework. I often referred to him as my "nudge" (a thorn in my side) but I always smiled when I saw him. When something happened everyone would point to Natan and say "he did it" and most often he did. Oh, and did I forget to tell you . . . . . Natan was bullied mercilessly.
Students often made fun of the nerdy kid that wore glasses and repeatedly dropped his books and I was told later that one student even said "you should die-you are worthless". Natan was not part of the group. He was not included. He would have probably worn a different color than green today because he forgot it was St. Patrick's Day. He wouldn't have celebrated with his peers because few people really "got him". He had a couple of other geeky friends--the kinds of kids that parents love and student make fun of.
Today the teachers are all wearing green ribbons in remembrance of Natan--we are all part of our own group. A group that is grieving.
Natan will always be remembered--by the teachers he challenged, by the students that are dealing with the shame of bullying him, by the nerdy kids that befriended him, by his parents that loved him and by me, the teacher who learned the lesson of patience and tolerance from him.
1 comment:
What a wonderful remembrance of Natan. You described him perfectly........I smile when I think of him....which I do often. He will always be in my thoughts and prayers.
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