Mrs. Henderson's Class

Each day was a true delight.  Mrs. Henderson had made her lesson plan and all her students were eager to see what came next.  Day after day, as a group, they traveled through geography, waded knee-deep into math and together built sentences and paragraphs using the letters they had learned and played with. 

The classroom was both a safe place and a pirate ship when it needed to be.   But it was no place for a dreamer.  Thinking outside of the box was unheard-of.   It wasn’t long until little Buddy was labeled as a troublemaker, a disruption and eventually Mrs. Henderson had written him off.  He was ignored and the classroom that was once filled with sunshine, now – for Buddy, was filled with dark clouds.   He felt like an outcast.  He was the square peg. 

The unfortunate aspect of the label Mrs. Henderson had hung onto Buddy followed him throughout his entire life within the educational system.  No matter where he went, people could see Mrs. Henderson’s label sticking out over the top of Buddy’s sweater.  Don’t bother with this one. 

But something quite unique happened over time.  What had happened to Buddy turned out to be his education.  For Buddy had the advantage of seeing how adults acted and how short-sighted they were.  Even how Mrs. Henderson had given up on him the moment he began to color outside of the lines.  That was an area beyond her comfort zone.  Something she had not prepared for and so she gave up.   

Buddy, the dreamer, eventually found his place in the world.  He changed his name and started a Blog.  Every day Buddy wrote about his observations and experiences.  He wrote fun things and of classrooms that turned into pirate ships.  He explored all of the places that had been roped off.  He looked behind the DO NOT ENTER doors and he followed the scent of well-traveled boots to wherever they went.   There were no limits, no teachers or supervisors.  Only his keyboard and his imagination.  For Buddy was a dreamer.

 

 

 

 

 ZC