Pure excitement!

The kids have come so far this year. Not just on paper, but other teachers have commented on how much they've grown in their social skills and confidence. We were invited to the sixth grade awards ceremony on Friday. My teacher friends from the lunch crew told me to choose a few different students for some of the awards (I ended up choosing an award for each student...)

I put them in the other teachers' piles of awards, so that when their names were called, it could be like they were a part of the regular sixth grade class. As each student was called, their faces lit up with smiles as they proudly marched to the front of the auditorium to get their awards. The other students CLAPPED for them, which was usually started by a fellow lunch crew friend. That was my intention for the lunch crew students all along - to build their confidence in their abilities to "show" the other students the way. It worked! The whole auditorium was clapping louder for my kids than for any other kid who was called! It was their exciting moment of the school year.

Well, everyone had been called except my extra special student who moved here from Kenya. She is not very aware of her surroundings and honestly wouldn't have cared if they called her or not. She was sitting there enjoying her OPRAH magazine and clapping in between turning the pages. However, they DID call her. She looked up! (It is amazing that she even responded to her name, which is a feat in itself!) She got up and walked towards the front. Her aide didn't think she needed to walk with her because she figured she understood what was going on. She walked towards the stage, everyone was clapping, she was looking at the crowd grinning from ear to ear. She walked past the first teacher... "Okay," I thought, "Maybe she's just starting on the other end!" She kept walking. And walking. And walking. Right past the teachers giving the awards! She passed all of the teachers and ran straight back stage! Hahaha.

That was her exciting moment. I ran back there to get her and when we came out everyone was laughing. Not "mean" laughter, just "funny" laughter. Believe me, it was a funny sight. Even I was laughing.

We walked up to the teachers and I guided her to shake their hands as she got her award. She ran back to her seat, kicking her legs as she went. That was probably the funniest thing she's done all year. This just confirms her pure joy and ability to enjoy life in every moment, not caring what ANYONE thinks about her.

As the year comes to an end, we can definitely say we've achieved success daily. Even if we walk right past the people presenting our awards.