Leaves Fall
Halloween is around the corner.
This snapshot was taken on the front stoop on Halloween, 1991. The class was lining up for their parade around the neighborhood. The featured goblin designed and made this mask himself. He was a wildly creative boy. After graduating from Burpie...he went on to the premier art/engineering school in NYC, Cooper Union.
His life ended last weekend in a tragic accident, jumping roofs at a late night party.
Going through my "school" picture boxes, I found several of him and his classmates. It was one of my best teaching years, my first back in the classroom after a two-year stint as acting director. It seemed so entirely managable - a little band of eight-year-olds. The year was a supremely calm and enjoyable time. I do remember that this little guy travelled to the beat of his own drum and did not particularly take to management, but he was very funny and a great deal of fun.
This week I found myself pondering the children we teach today and wondering which of them will leave this life before the adults - who spend theirs trying to shape them. Are there any early signs?
1 comment:
How heartbreaking. I can't imagine any of the kids I taught leaving this world early. It must have been so sad for you when you found out.
Only once did I think to myself that a child would not be around to long and that was with B****t K*****t. I mean he would run out of the building and once when we were sharing the school yard with another school while all the second grade teachers were in a huddle talking about their weekend plans I was running out of the yard and in the middle of the street retrieving the child as he ran in traffic.
I wonder and worry about him to this day
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