The best reward a teacher can ever get: an introduction to her student, the man
The day dawned gray, stormy and cold. After a morning full of errands and packing, we were finally ready to go. The long-awaited trip to the coast was a 21/2 hour drive in pounding rain, brisk winds, steady hail. Then from out of nowhere -- a brilliant double rainbow! With apologies to Scott O'Dell, it was surely "an omen of good fortune."
As we wound our way through the dimly lit campus of San Luis Obispo's Cuesta College searching for the gym, the anticipation in the truck cab was electric. We were here at last! Our situations were completely different, but the ultimate goal the same. For me, it was keeping a promise made some 11 years earlier. For my husband, it was a junior high coach watching one of his former ballplayers play college basketball.
The gym at Cuesta was covered with banners and team titles won over the last 30-plus years. Inside was a small, but extremely loyal group of Cuesta fans -- and we were now one of them! I was painfully aware we didn't have on green and white, but no one there could match our enthusiasm.
Finally, the team came out and began their complex warm-up drills. We searched each face of the players in their home uniforms and finally spotted Phillip. I watched in amazement at this now 21 year old -- tall and athletic and quick on his feet -- so changed from when he was a bright and energetic 4th grader dreaming of a spot on a college team.
The game was the final home matchup, with the league championship on the line. Cuesta has two Shafter High ballplayers on their team this year, Phillip Jimenez and Ralph Santos, which made it even better. It was an exciting game -- the Cougars won, and Phillip played well.
I joked that his 3-pointer was for me, the free throws were Mike's, and all the rest of his points were for his parents Becky and Fabian Jimenez, who drive to every game. Cuesta College will continue its quest to be state champions, and even though I am a BC alumna (Go Gades!) I will be cheering for Phillip and his teammates this season.
Afterwards, we all met at The Firehouse in SLO. Again, I was struck by the maturity and wisdom this young man possesses both on and off the court. His goal after college is to coach and teach PE, hopefully in his hometown of Shafter. He shared with me his plans after Cuesta -- and his hope to continue to play and earn his degree and teaching certificate.
I realized that his future students, wherever they are, will gain so much in his leadership and enthusiasm for sport and the importance of being physically fit. I thought of the "Character Counts" slogan, and the lessons we try so very hard to instill in our classrooms at the Richland School District. Here was an example of all the pillars of character -- trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship -- right in front of me. The school district who hires him will be very fortunate indeed.
I know this praise will embarrass him, but to see one of your students grow and mature and be successful in whatever he dreams to be is the very best reward any educator can have. It is knowing that you have been a part of a child's life, and that somehow, somewhere, sometime, it made a difference.
In turn, that knowledge changes and encourages you to continue on in this ever-changing, sometimes challenging and without a doubt most rewarding job on earth.
Carole Lynn Anderson of Bakersfield is a teacher at Sequoia Elementary School in Shafter's Richland School District.
