Revision

Inspiring Teachers

As I walked into my first classroom, the room was filled with little people that had snot dripping down their faces onto their sleeves from sobbing as if their favorite pet had just passed away. My animated teacher leaped across the room, singing and dancing. Our petrified, sullen facial expressions were transformed to giggly, smiling five-year-olds. This lady popped out saying "Hi kids I'm Mrs. Berrigan and welcome to your first day of Kindergarten.”

It was as if she was in Cirque de Soleil, swinging from one rope to the next, greeting every kid. Once the class was mesmerized by this act, she moved right into reading us our first book together, Curious George. The way she read the book, I could easily picture him knocking down all the pots and pans, making a shocking cahh-plunk noise. As the story went on, we cheered up by the second while Curious George kept making silly mistakes. She exclaimed, “Curious George stop making goofy mistakes.” As the story finally came to an end, we were deflated as we never wanted her amazing stories to come to an end. My kindergarten introduction to school with Mrs. Berrigan is what sparked my love for reading, and I will never ever forget my first reading experience at this school. Her love for reading has stuck with me since that first day and helped me flourish into the writer I am today.

Over the next two years, my love for reading kept developing. A week before second grade I started reading a book a day until school started. Each night I would read a book just waiting for school to start. School and reading was all that came out of my mouth the next few days. My parents were beginning to get annoyed with this obsession, but I didn’t see that there was a problem with it. “It’s the last day of summer!” I came out hollering just as the sun cracked above the horizon.

I had been waiting for this day for a whole week now, and it was finally a day before. As I woke up, my sweet mother walked into my room and began to read me a devotional from her Daily quotes from God book. The quote of the day fit directly into my life right now. It went something like this, “Cherish the things you love and hold them close to you as one day you will look back and think about all the great memories you had with this experience and be grateful for everything that has happened in this life.” God spoke to me through this devotional because I felt as though I was finally finding who I was, a little nerdy. This experience was the beginning of my close relationship with my mother began, and it was all because of my love for reading. I compared this quote to reading, and I thought about how much I enjoyed it. Therefore, I should cherish it . This was the first time I began to think harder than I ever had before contemplating what life was. I spent the rest of my slow, boring day reading til it was already time to go to bed again.  As the sun began to set, we were tucked into our cozy beds, but I couldn't fall asleep. I stared at my wall for the next hour. Time was clicking loudly like a clock in a school room. Eventually, I fell into a deep sleep hoping tomorrow would be as great as I had longed for it to be.

            “Today is the day I start second grade," I shrieked as I bolted out of my bed and down the stairs.

We sprinted through the door eating our warm and gooey chocolate chip muffins. The muffins melted in our mouths and has definitely been a favorite of my sister and I for as long as I can remember. The thirty-minute car ride was painfully long. However, we finally arrived, and I leaped from the car, grabbed my backpack, and said "Bye dad. Love you!"

I went straight down the walkway skipping along to Mrs. Crousillac’s room. She would be my second-grade teacher, and I was overjoyed!

            During the next few weeks, we made our way to the library as a class. Mrs. Chew read books to our class in an animated tone, trying to make us enjoy reading. However, I already knew which book series I wanted to pick out, A to Z Mysteries. I walked as fast as possible through the library trying to find the first book in the series, and a found it after an extensive search. I could not wait to go home that night, sit in my cozy, warm bed and read my first A to Z Mysteries book. As I got home, I ran straight to my room ignoring my mom on the way there. I read for hours upon hours until I had finally finished my first A to Z Mysteries book. My mom walked in, and I was passed out with my light on with the book by my side finished. This event was just the beginning of reading the whole series, a book per night.

Mrs. Berrigan, my Kindergarten teacher, and Mrs. Crousillac, my second-grade teacher,  sparked my love for reading. Both of them encouraged me to excel and challenged every child to read more based on their reading level. Their love for teaching kids impacted every child around them, lifting them up. They were the reason that my love for reading and writing began, along with my mom. I believe that my young reading habits helped me flourish as a writer. Ten years later, I am so grateful for these remarkable teachers. They are responsible for shaping me into the successful reader and writer I am today, and I give them extraordinary amounts of thanks.