Ms. B’s Thoughts

I am posting here a letter I wrote just over a year ago to one of the best people in my life…she just got hired as a Pre-K teacher at Father Marquette.  Yipee!  It has been a LONG time coming!  Congrats!May 5, 2007

Angela Claire Turcotte Beauchamp—

From the day I met you, I knew you were destined for great things…you bounced into my room like a little redheaded firecracker, ready to go, to change, to challenge, to take on the world.  I also knew that day, without a doubt, that you and I would get along famously.  I have always seen in you, a younger version of me…smart, sassy, confident and caring… always in the lead, never content to just follow.  When I asked you to read at my wedding, I asked you because I knew the words you would write would speak from my heart as well as yours…I also knew, deep down that my little brother would fall head over heels in love with you…(I am just so very smart!)

And now look at us…almost six children between us, miscarriages, a pending divorce, different jobs, different houses–life has taken us down a path…one filled with some tears, some heartache, but so many more blessings.  I remember that day we were driving around talking about you and Roo…how we would get to raise our kids together, share holidays, days at the beach and trips to Disney World.  We are so very blessed…to share our lives.

As if we didn’t have enough in common…now we get to share a profession!  Welcome to the world of teaching!  There are so many teachers in this world…some good and some bad and some that fall in the middle.  What excites me most is that I know in your heart you are a teacher.  You have been teaching without a license for so very many years…like me, you were born to teach, to guide, to nurture, to instill in every student the love of LEARNING.  You are entering the field in some of the most tumultuous times in the history of education.  I am counting on you, your courage and strength to stand strong in your convictions and fight for what you know in your heart is great teaching practice.  Don’t be swayed by nasty lounge talk or negative attitudes.  Don’t be discouraged by mounds of binders containing the latest information on GLCE’s or MEAPS. Don’t get caught up in the financial strains our state is suffering. Keep in your heart the faith…the faith that each day you are touching lives, changing minds and giving hope to children.  Believe that things will change.  That in time people will come to appreciate our schools and change will occur.  I truly believe that teaching is a calling.  We never know the impact of our interactions with children…we just have to believe we are making a difference.

I love you.  I look forward to the day you get your own classroom…the day the children who walk into your room will have their lives changed forever by knowing you.  I look forward to sharing many years discussing, debating, and learning with you.

Congratulations, my dear!

Forever,
Sara