Student gives teacher a greater perspective

I wanted to share an experience I had at school with one of my students. Really, it isn't MY experience, but his.

We roll the cube of love every morning in our Morning Meeting. Not long ago, one of my students, Davey, came to school really excited about sharing an act of love he had done over the Christmas break.

Davey comes from a relatively low income family. He and his two sisters live with their mother who does not work. His father died 3 years ago in a car accident.

Their family had gone to the fire house to meet Santa, and at the event, Davey put his name in to win a new bike for Christmas. About 20 minutes after they got home, they got a call saying that Davey had won the bike!!! The bike was a tricycle, and Davey knew that it was too small for himself. His two sisters however could have ridden on it quite well, I am sure. Davey talked it over with his family and said that instead of keeping the bike, he wanted to give it to one of the 3-year-old angels on the angel tree at the fire house. And that's what he did.

His mother told me that he was doing it for "a friend in need," although Davey obviously did not know this little "angel."

I sent this same experience to all the teachers at my school, and had such an overwhelming response of people wanting to give back to Davey. One teacher said, "This little boy should realize that when we truly give unselfishly, we receive the hundredfold." We often hear such true and amazing words in the experiences of those in the Focolare Movement and in the Gospel. Because there was such a strong response, the school staff got Davey something nice for Christmas.

This student is such a blessing to us all, and I feel that I can learn so much from his life and the lives of all my students. They give me such a greater perspective.

Amber Brown
Third and fourth grade public school teacher, Kentucky