School Pictures

Eight of my favorite words are serendipity, genius, simple, beauty, plain, wonder, ordinary and kindness.

I chose eight because the number 8 is the symbol for infinity standing up.

They are my infinity words.

This afternoon, I’m thinking about these words because they describe a person, a moment and a gift.

The person is one of my students. 

She is from Honduras. 

She is an ordinary nine-year-old.

She is extraordinary, too.

She has a learning disability. 

She has to work twice as hard to learn half as much as her non-disabled peers.

She works infinity times harder than other students.

After over 100 days of being her teacher, I already knew her life makes the world a more beautiful and wonderful place.

The serendipity for me today was learning that she is a genius. 

A kind genius at that.

And that takes me to a moment.

First thing this morning, at 7:45 a.m., she appeared at my classroom door with a twinkle in her brown eyes and a smile on her earthy face that brightened my classroom and lightened my heart.

“Mr. Barton,” she said in her Spanish/English way that endears her to me, “I painted this for you.”

She held up a small canvas.

And that brings me to the gift.

Look at the painting.

See the genius.

See the plain beauty.

See the wonder.

See the simple kindness.

See the serendipity that I found on an early morning on an ordinary day in public school.