My Everyday Hero
Words cannot begin to explain my appreciation and admiration
for Karen Crespo. When life began to
give her lemons, she fought hard to make a delicious lemonade, lemon meringue
pie, lemon cobbler, etc.
My students have been studying people in the community who
make a difference. We were reading an
article about a Para Olympian and triathlete Rudy Garcia-Tolson that led to a
discussion about diversity. We began
discussing how people living with impairments can still live their lives and
fulfill their dreams. I shared the story
about how my friend Karen is taking her experiences and turning them into
teachable moments.
For the most part, I have able-bodied students who don’t
have a lot of interaction with diverse populations. We are lucky to be in a school that serves
diverse populations but our small community is just a small portion of
diversity. Our school is diverse in
terms of ethnic diversity, socioeconomic class, and physical capabilities. There is a special orthopedic class for students
with physical disabilities, man of these students are restricted to wheelchairs.
My students were on the edges of their seats as Karen spoke
to them. I could see them taking in all
the information and trying to make sense of everything in their mind. The students had a lot of questions
surrounding how Karen lives from day to day.
Everyone was astonished to know that Karen is still doing many of her
regular things like watching tv, going to the restroom, and texting. Seeing and feeling the connection that Karen
had with my students reminds me of why I teach.
It was a beautiful thing. Simply
Beautiful.
I’m so happy to hear that Karen is advancing and well on her
way to achieve her goals…. Yesterday she
shared her dreams of snowboarding, driving, and total independence. I know that Karen is a hard working young
lady and she will achieve any goal that she sets her mind to!
This morning, the students wrote Karen a thank you
letter. My class has a wide range of intellectual
capabilities that stretch from super advanced to students that require much
teacher assistance. There are a few
students who are reluctant to produce work.
When it came time to write a letter to Karen there were no reluctant
producers today probably because this assignment was so near and dear to everyone’s
heart. Everyone had something they wanted to share with Karen.
I did not place any restrictions on the content. Some of these letter show that my students understood
Karen’s message. My little Lee thinks
Karen is “sweet” and he decorated his letter in hearts. Another student was giving words of wisdom,
“If they tell you you can’t do it, so what!
You keep trying no matter if they tell you you can’t do it!” One of my girls described her as
“amazing.” A couple other students
really understood the message of following your dreams. Their thoughts were not censored and I cannot
wait until I get to meet up with Karen and personally deliver these letters.
Karen is a true celebrity in our room and is welcome back
anytime. We are already trying to plan
an event so that we can invite Karen to visit again.
Her words of hope are sure to linger on in our minds for an
eternity and continually inspire us.
If you would like to learn more about Karen, please visit
these sites please click on one of the links below:
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