Stranger In The Park

Today my assistant and I took nine children under the age of five to catch tadpoles. We went to Forest Park and set out to capture tadpoles, in hopes we could watch them transform. Each child had a chance to cast their net into the water. All in all we collected four tadpoles, some river grass, a snail, some microscopic animals and a lily pad.

As we were walking back to our van, we stopped to see some tadpoles that a middle school class had found. The program is called ECOS and it is offered to students in hopes that ecology will be taught. Very popular in Springfield, most classes attend as their annual field trip. The lead ECOS teacher was sitting, keeping watch over the students' treasure and answering a million questions. He introduced himself and welcomed our children to peek at all the specimen. While we visited his classroom, he asked me about mine. I explained that I was a teacher and that I had opened an educational daycare when my twins were born. He continued to quiz me asking the children's ages, our location, our demographics and our curriculum. He was impressed that my class was so well behaved. He was taken with the fact that I took the children out of my home on a daily field trip. As we were leaving, he shook my hand and said, "Obviously teaching these kids is a true passion for you. No one would give this much of them self or work this hard if it was a job!"

All day I have been pondering his comment. Yes, I love my work. Yes, I love my kids. Yes, I work hard. Yes, teaching is my PASSION! I want each of my kids to be challenged from the beginning. I want them to gain as many experiences as they can before they are faced with the conformity of school. I want to be a memorable part of their happy childhoods. I want to sit back one day and realize that I dedicated my life to bettering the lives of children. Funny how a life time can be summed up by a stranger in the park.