When children speak....I listen.

There are times when I have a conversation with one of my students which leave me speechless.

Over the summer, third grader, Jaime(alias) lost her 27 year old father to a rare heart condition. Yesterday as I was supervising on the playground Jaime came up to me and asked, "Mrs. Pope, did your mother die when you were a little girl?"
"No Jaime. My mom is alive and lives in Oakland."
"My dad passed away this summer and I had a dream about him last night. Ever since I had that dream, I keep seeing and hearing things."
"Really, Like what?," I reply.

"Well, whenever I look at one of the boys at school, I see my dad's face. It's as if he is going into their body to give me a message. I also see his footsteps. It's like he is calling me to go with him. I try to follow them, but they eventually disappear. When I am doing work in class, I hear him giving me the answers. When I walk places, he walks with me. He used to always walk me into places. Do you know he was only 27. He was too young to die and I am too young to have all these thoughts in my mind. I am only 8. I need to talk with someone." These were her exact words.

I am sitting and listening, but not verbally responding. I am not a trained counselor and I am afraid I may say something incorrect and in this instance, that would be dangerous. I do tell her about a grief group that is going on at the elementary school next door. I ask her if she thinks she may want to participate. She says yes, and I get her the permission slip to give to her mom. Our school, of only 196, has counseling services only 1-2 hours per week. Hopefully Jaime will start the sessions this week.

I am so amazed by my scholars. There are times I wonder if I can be as strong as they are. If I can articulate exactly what is going on with me and the need for help.
It's students like Jaime who help me forget about the challenges that are going on within the district. She and the others remind me daily of why I fight so hard for them and why I need to push even harder to get them what they need.

Jaime is not the only student who lost her father this summer..Aya(first grade) also lost her very young father to a heart attack and she is not as vocal about her experience. However, I will also see if her mom wants her signed up for the group as well.