Helping a student get through school…

Many years ago the early 90's, I had this senior High School student; we will call him Chris that really loved to avoid work at school. He would try to come in tardy, not do class work and be a general disruption to the educational setting. He and I had regular chats about his behavior and eventually he would get to work. I made an attempt every time I saw Chris in the hall to say hello and get to know him better. He slowly began to arrive earlier and work more diligently for me. My classroom was not the only place that Chris had been less than successful. His other teachers asked me how I got him to work. I shared my plan. Over time he became a good student, not stellar student but not a classroom nightmare.

Well second semester Chris informed me that he was moving to the Colony. It was with mixed emotions that I said goodbye to Chris. A few weeks later Chris comes walking into my classroom in the middle of the day. I said, “Chris I am glad you moved back!” He said, “Oh I didn’t move back Mr. Cromis I’m skipping school. I really don’t like it in the Colony. You can skip, not turn in your work and sleep and nobody will say anything to you. They just don’t care about me over there!”

Chris and I had a long meeting out in the hall. I let him know that I cared and expected him to be much more successful than he was and to get his butt back to school. I told him to visit with me and let me know how he was doing. For years Chris would come visit and catch me up on his life even after graduating form the high school.


The funny thing is all he wanted was someone to care.
Does he remind you of one of your students?