Years ago during my first year teaching fifth grade I had a young man named Jeremy. He was kind of a scraggly kid, charming smile, messy clothes, dirty blonde hair, and a long rattail. For the first month of school he was late for school every day except one. I would admonish him for being late, give him a little lecture on responsibility, and remind him of the school rule requiring after school detention for every three tardies! He would just shrug his scrawny shoulders and head to desk in the back of the classroom.
The day he arrived on time, I asked him, “Why are you late all the time and why were you on time today?” Jeremy quietly explained, “My dad does not live with me and my mom, and she goes to work before I wake-up in the morning, so I am on my own to get up and off to school. My mom was sick this morning so I got up early to take care of her.
Jeremy and I came up with a plan: I would call him every morning at 6:30, and he would get up and get himself to school. If he could get to school on time for two weeks, I would take him to breakfast. Jeremy came to school for two weeks on time and we went to breakfast. Then another two! At the end of about a month he told me he thought he could get to school on his own but that he really appreciated it.
Just recently Jeremy came up to me at local festival and introduced himself. He shook my hand and told me what a deference I had made in his life, how he prides himself on being on time, that had a great job and a great family … and that he learned to be a responsible person in fifth grade! He still had the rattail … but he looked great!
Rich Smith
Fifth Grade Teacher
Yarmouth, Maine
Posted by Scott 
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