Wednesday, May 22, 2013

I just have to share this.....

This last week I received an urgent email from some friends in VA.
One of their classroom family has autism, and they love "C" very much!!!!
Sadly, some of the other kids at school have been making fun of C. This has made his
friends and teacher very sad. As a class they were trying to come up with some ways 
that they could get the others to be nice. They decided to email me and see if I could draw up a "big head" (how cute is that???) of C, so that the others would accept him better.

I am so humbled by such trust!!!!!! To think that my little friends in room 201 
believe that I could do something of such great importance, really touched me. I think I felt a little
bit of what a teacher must feel every day! It still makes me teary :)

This morning, my friends got to see the "big head C", and they sent me back an email about it. They gave me permission to share it.

Ms. Nikki,

We cannot believe how much your art looks like C!!! It made him SO happy. He has carried it around all morning. He showed Mrs. Morse, the librarian, and Mrs. "Snowball" (her real name is Stovall but he calls her Snowball so we do, too!), and Mrs. Rakes, and Miss Martin, and Mrs. Napier, and Mrs. Boaz, and everyone who works in the office, and he is going to show it to Mrs. Dr. Rodgers, our principal. We think it is so cool.

We all REALLY LOVE C but sometimes people don't get him and they make fun of him. They were making fun of him in the cafeteria for wearing headphones but it isn't his fault that he hears too much. We learned this year that it isn't easy to have autism, but C is part of our classroom family and we love him.

We know our teacher worries all the time about next year and us looking out for him, but we know that with friends like you and us, we don't have anything to worry about. Thanks for loving him as much as we do, and our teacher says we can pick out MORE BIG heads today! We cannot even believe how lucky we are to get MORE BIG HEADS! Do you know that it CRACKS US UP that they don't have noses? We make sure to point that out every time. Oh, and we have a big poster about "never saying never" that Justin Bieber (we all love him but our teacher loves him most) and she says YOU MADE THAT TOO! YOU ARE SO COOL!

We will email you later when we pick out our big heads. Also, we wanted you to know that our teacher showed us the picture you made of the little kids holding Oklahoma...we love it! We are really scared of tornadoes, but we actually don't get them where we are in VA...we are surrounded by mountains that protects us like a donut hole. We all are wondering if you are protected by mountains like a donut hole, too? And we also wanted to tell you we watched a video this morning of a lady who found her dog in her house after the tornado. It made our teacher cry and cry but she said it was because she was happy and to remember that good things can come out of really bad things. One of us (me, Malaki) said that YOU, Ms. Nikki, remind of us of the dog coming out of the tornado mess...because it was so bad C got made fun of, but you made us the most perfect picture of C, and YOU were a little big of good coming from a mess. That made our teacher cry even harder when I made that connection...she's so silly with her crying!

So, thank you. We love, love, love your art and it makes a difference every day. We have been sitting on the carpet telling our teacher exactly what to put in this email, and she is typing really quickly to catch up. She thinks you should put it on your blog (we don't really get that) so everyone can know how amazing you are.

Thanks for fulling our bucket and we can't wait to let you know what big heads we pick out!

Love, love, LOVE, LOVE,

Room 201
Bassett, VA



sniff sniff..... I think I need a bigger bucket myself.
Thank you room 201, for giving my life a greater purpose this week!
Love and hugs!!!
xox







18 comments :

Suzy Q said...

Nikki, you truly have a big heart! It was so touching to read what the students wrote and their love and concern for their classmate. Thank you for sharing...we can all use some more good news in our lives these days.

Rhonda Miller said...

That is so sweet. It's so good to see these kids watching out for someone else instead of joining in on the teasing.

Mrs. Nicolau said...

You are so great Nikki!!!
I'm so happy you continue touching people's lives through your art!! Thank you for sharing with us!! :)

Tammy said...

wow as a teacher in Oklahoma I am now crying. I had a C a few years ago, I wish I had thought of your art. So touching in a week of sadness.
Tammy
First Grade @ Storybook Cafe
dtklinger@gmail.com

Clip Art by Carrie Teaching First said...

Nikki, that is amazing! Thanks for sharing your story!

Carrie

ike said...

Dang !! How wonderful is that ?!!! I am so glad you did this for them and they showered you with such love and appreciation. Soooo well deserved Nikki :-D

Hugz
IKE xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lisa said...

So sweet! As a teacher of kids with autism, this post really touched me!

Also, you may want to let the teacher know there is a picture book about kids with autism being a part of the regular class. It's really cute. It's called Since We're Friends by Celeste Shally

Lisa
The Lower Elementary Cottage

Beach Sand and Lesson Plans said...

Beautiful!!! You should feel so special! It's sad that kids (and even some teachers) don't understand autistic kids. It's so nice that you have made a difference!
Gina
Beach Sand and Lesson Plans

Unknown said...

My Dear friend Nikki,

You have a wonderful gift and a talent that blesses the lives of people all over the world! We are all grateful you are who you are and for the love you put into your doodles. I am pleased beyond measure to know and associate with you!

Love always,
Hollie Baxter

Leeann said...

Nikki, you are quite an angel as well as 201! As a mom with an autistic daughter, I know good friends are hard to come by for these kids. What a beautiful way to raise awareness, their teacher deserves a medal! Thanks so much for what you have done, every one of us can learn a great lesson from all of you!

Anonymous said...

What an amazing group of children! Your story is such a blessing. Thank you for sharing it with us. We can all learn a lesson from this class!

Karen
anappleadayinfirstgrade.blogspot.com

First Grade Funtastic said...

That is so awesome!!! What an amazing talent you have! I think the teacher is pretty amazing too...to reach out and try to do something for "C". The letter was awesome to read.
Sara
First Grade Funtastic

Christine Reeve said...

You made my day. It is so wonderful of you to do that for the class and the student with autism, and it was even better to hear how much the class cares for the student on the spectrum. Thanks so much for sharing...
Chris
Autism Classroom News

Fluttering Through First Grade said...

Such a sweet, beautiful story Nikki-one that needs to be shared with so many more. Our hearts break at how many kids have not been taught to be accepting.
This just warmed our hearts so. Love it! Hugs to you!
~Christy & Tammy
Fluttering Through First Grade

Paula S. said...

Nikki, I don't know you personally but from the big-hearted person who shines through in every single post on this blog I can say that you really do deserve the praise. God Bless You!

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing Nikki, you are so sweet! I just used your adorable Trolls on my blog & latest TpT freebie - when you have a chance, look at how cute they look standing next to the mean poison ivy plant!

Science for Kids Blog


✿Sue✿
Science for Kids Blog

Think, Wonder, and Teach said...

You know Ms. Nikki... every word is true! Every day you make a huge difference in countless numbers of students life with your art. You make learning fun.

Love ya!!
Misty

the classroom creative said...

How touching. My oldest has ASD, and this was moving...

<3
Nicolette
The Classroom Creative