Waylon {Originally Posted June 21, 2012}

I can’t get my mind off Waylon. In 2008 I was hired to teach 2nd grade. I had 2 days to get a classroom ready for a room full of little ones. The school year began and I LOVED every minute of it. My heart is in second grade. I love the age–the curriculum. Everything. A month into the year, I got news that my unit was cut by the county and that I would be placed in a kindergarten classroom. I swore on everything that I would never teach kindergarten. I was sent home because I was crying so hard. I had already built relationships with my 2nd graders and we were just beginning to dig into the meat of instruction. I considered quitting. I came to work the next day. Mrs. Rodriguez stayed with me and helped me learn the ropes. I didn’t realize exactly how much work teaching K would involve. They didn’t know how to hold a pencil. How to sit down. My first day in there a little one yelled from the bathroom, “Mrs. Sosa! Come wipe me!”. I was going to lose my mind. Looking back I see God’s hand in those moments. He knew exactly what he was doing. You see, that year I learned how to REALLY teach a child how to read from the VERY beginning. 8 out of 16 of my babies knew no English. I had a few spunky kiddos that added “flavor” to our day. One of them was Waylon. Waylon was incredibly creative in kindergarten. Every Friday we had show and tell (practice speaking for my ESOL babies) and Waylon forgot to bring something to share with the class, but his hand was still flying in the air, waving back and forth. “Oooh! Ooh! Pick me!” He walked to the front of the room. His rigid posture commanded the presence of everyone in the room (including my friend Kelly who was helping us that day). With the most serious face a 5 year can make he began singing the Iron Man theme song, complete with sound effects and motions. I had to bury my face in my hands to keep the students from seeing me laugh and turn red. He never failed to make me laugh on a daily basis. And I can still hear him saying my name with his cute little lisp, “Mith Thotha!!” (which he no longer has). Waylon was part of the class that taught me how to teach each student what they need. I thought I would never want to teach kindergarten, but at the end of that year, I walked away with more than I ever could have imagined. Waylon is in St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital right now fighting for his life. He is on life support and doctors are telling his mom that they aren’t expecting him to make it through the night. I can’t imagine the pain his family is feeling right now. Please pray for him and his family. *Edit* Waylon left this life June 30, 2012. I think of him daily. Life is precious.