THE RACE WAS ON....

Yesterday I had one of the most memorable experiences I have had as an educator. It all began earlier this year, as one of our non-verbal students and I have been getting to know one another. (He's not in my program, he's in a different one but it doesn't matter, they're OUR kids. *grin*) Honestly, it's one of the highlights of my day if I can see this young man nod his head when I talk to him. Lately he had not nodded his head, and I thought I was losing my touch. *grin* But, honestly I was okay with that. We all have days when we want to talk more than others.

As part of this young man's daily schedule, he rides a tricycle through our building and uses a communication device to talk to people in the hallways. That's how I first started to get to know him. While I had my student teacher, I would try to give her time in the room with the kids, and I'd stop and talk to the students from his classroom that were in the hallways. This young man immediately became a highlight of my day.

I would say, "Are you having a good day?" To which he would not his head "no". I would grin and say "Aw, that's not true!" I can't recall seeing him smile, ever. However, just a nod of the head would make ME smile.

So on Wednesday, he rode down to my room to ask my class a question through his communication device. I told him he needed to ask our principal if I could have a tricycle to ride in the hallways, and we could race! Right then, his assistant recorded a message for our principal. When I checked email at the end of the day, my principal had sent his teacher and me an email saying there are tricycles in their room that are big enough for me to ride. That solidified it, THE RACE WAS ON!!!!!!!!

Yesterday morning one of the helpers of that room came down to ask me if we could race in the afternoon. I said "Yes." We talked about logistics and how it would need to be the first try of several, as the kids would need to see what it would look like to be excited about it. I agreed. Of course, I wasn't in my official racing gear (I need to get some official gear before the next race day!) but I was excited.

At lunch time, I went into the room to look at my tricycle, and to see if the young man was excited about our race. He nodded his head when I asked if he was going to race me...he nodded his head "No." (I should mention, the others in that room participated as well, but yesterday my focus was on this young man.) I couldn't tell if he was kidding or not, but I let it go. His helper seemed to think that when it came time to race, he would.

We met in the gym and I was SO EXCITED about this young man's race. When we got in the gym, HE WAS SMILING!!!! I had never seen him smile! It was BEAUTIFUL!!!! I was getting the feel of the tricycle, and it had a bell on it which made it even more fun! We did a practice run while we were waiting for the official race ribbon to arrive! The young man grinned ear-to-ear!

Then the real race began. The young man I was racing did a GREAT job, and BEAT ME!!!! I immediately wanted a re-match! Today pics were shared and yes, talk of the re-match was already in the works.

It was an experience I'll never forget. While I'm sure this young man smiles all the time, I got to see it for the first time. It's something I'll never forget.

*grin*
LIFE.
IS.
GREAT!!!