65. Tribute to Kimberli

 #66Challenge

 

I could not let this project go by without acknowledging a student who will forever remain in my heart. 

I have taught thousands of students, many I have forgotten by name and face. Some I can recall a face and maybe a first name, but not a last. But in general, even with all the hours spent together, there is no space in my memory for all of them. 

However, because of the fact that I teach intensive reading, sometimes I have students more than one year. This past year I had at least five whom I taught through their whole middle school experience. And this one was a whopper, with the pandemic and all. 

Kimberli Z. stands out to me mostly because she is a dedicated reader and academic soul. She is originally from Honduras, and when she came to me in 6th grade she definitely still struggled with language. But she always loved to read, and every time I got a new book in, I gave it directly to her. One of those was The First Rule of Punk, a book I adore, and Kimberli did as well. Even this year we both continued to recommend it to other students.

The theme of the book is "Always remember to be yourself." And that is obviously Kimberli's motto as well. No matter how lazy other students in the class became, or unruly, I never had to think twice about what Kimberli was doing. She was on task, working through things, reading quietly...whatever was required.

When we shut down in March 2020, I remember Kimberli reaching out to me to help her with...math. I know she is a math whiz, but she felt the need to have a teacher helping her think things through, and for whatever reason she wanted me and not her math teacher. Even alone at home, with a gob of little brothers and sisters running around, she worked hard through whatever math we were working on (mean/median/mode, I think!)  I was grateful for the time with her, even if just on a Zoom meeting, and that day was a standout to me during a difficult time.

In 7th grade, she was a little different, but still a hard worker. She got into reading the romance type books that teens like, and so we didn't have a lot of common meeting points since I didn't tend to stock those books in my classroom. This was the year I was teaching hybrid classes, and had to assign a lot of independent work, and Kimberli just kept going, kept trying, against all odds.

In her 8th grade year I saw her really blossom. Once I gave an assignment to create a book cover for the story of your life. She created a whole booklet with all her favorite quotes and important goals and dreams. She worked on it for days. It wasn't even for a grade!

When we began the Read 180 program, she got frustrated with the independent reading segment because many of the books she had read already. I stretched to find her some things to read. In the spring, I handed her a book which I've kept on my shelf for years because I love it so much: Snowflower and the Secret Fan. I gave it to her to read and she fell right into it and had it completed in no time. She was so excited when she finished, declaring it her favorite book of all time, as it was about mother and daughter relationships in another culture. She said that was her favorite topic to read about. Of course, I had to give it to her. Right afterward I also gave her Joy Luck Club.

And let me note here that I am not the only teacher with this experience with Kimberli. One day she came in with a new book called The Firekeeper's Daughter. It was a gift from her 5th grade teacher whom she had seen the night before. She was excited to show it to me, as it had just been published. 

There is just something special about connecting to our students through literature.

Kimberli did wonderful work, but somehow stayed in intensive reading all those years. So I was delighted when I learned she had been accepted into the Florida Southwestern College high school, where she will be able to take high school courses at a level that will give her college credit, leaving there with an Associates Degree. I am not sure what the admission requirements are, but I do know other students who had applied and were not accepted. But if I know Kimberli, if she had to write an essay, she wrote the best essay possible. If she had to do a personal interview, she would have blown them away with her enthusiasm for learning. If I was running a school, I would want hundreds of Kimberlis!

When August rolls around, and my new students come in, I will be missing Kimberli's smile and presence. With any luck, a "new Kimberli" will arrive. Meanwhile, I will be praying and sending her good vibes for her new academic adventure, knowing she will give it her all and keep working to make her dreams come true.