Thank You Ms. Farro

Walking into second grade, I was excited for all the new second grade things to come- new friends, barter day, and the big kid playground. Little did I know, the things that I truly remember now are the acts of kindness from my teacher, Ms. Farro. 

Through her second grade class, Ms. Farro made sure that everyone felt special and cared for even if they didn’t feel like it themselves. One of my personal problems in second grade was the math minute tests. I knew all my math problems, but I wasn’t fast enough to finish the sheet in the one minute window we got. At certain points in the school year, some of my other classmates began to finish their papers, but I would only get either half or a third of it done. I became unmotivated and unconfident in my work, but she always made sure to tell us that we were all “math stars” and “smart cookies”. 

At the end of the school year, instead of everyone being sad that we would have to leave her and have another teacher the next school year, Ms. Farro announced that she would be moving up to third grade and we had the option to continue with her as our teacher. Obviously, I went right home and told my mom about this and how she had to say yes to this opportunity. 

Third grade was a rough year for me. The school year started like any other year up until November. While I was away on a trip, my dad went to the hospital because he got really sick. I came back home, and I entered a whole new chapter of my life. My dad stayed in the hospital through Christmas, and then through January, and eventually went to  hospice. We would visit him every day before school and I would be a few hours late to class. Ms. Farro would always greet me with a smile and hug, and wouldn’t treat me differently due to my circumstances. This sense of normalcy that I got while going to school helped me through this point in my life. 

In late January, my dad passed away, so I was out of school for about a week. During that week, we had the funeral, and she made the time to come to it to support me. When it was my first day back to school, I had a huge package sitting on my desk. To my surprise, she had everyone in my class write me kind notes about my dad and how they cared for me. These acts of kindness during a harsh part of my life helped me through it, and if it weren’t for her kindness, that time would have been much harder. 

Thinking back to the two years I spent with Ms. Farro, I am so grateful to have had such a kind and supportive teacher to push me through elementary school.