As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the
very first day of school, she told the children a big
lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students
and said that she loved them all the same.

However, that was impossible, because there in
the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy
named Teddy Stoddard .

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant.

It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X’s and then putting a big ‘F’ at the top of his papers.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she
was required to review each child’s past records
and she put Teddy ‘s off until last. However, when
she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.
Teddy ‘s first grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is a
bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work
neatly and has good manners…he is a joy to be
around.”

His second grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is an
excellent student, well-liked by his classmates, but
he is troubled because his mother has a terminal
illness and life at home must be a struggle...

Read the rest at www.laolusblog.