The "More" Child

Was it my imagination or was everyone just happier today? This morning I went to work with a smile on my face. Like millions around the world, I was thrilled and stunned and moved by Sen. Obama’s victory and this morning it was all starting to sink in. There was a magical, generous feeling in the air, like the day before Christmas.

The man who hands out the Express tabloid by the Metro entrance is always friendly…but today even more so. On the steps going into the Metro I exchanged pleasantries with an African-American woman who was juggling four copies of the Washington Post. She said they were for her family and she was going to have them laminated. People proudly wore Obama buttons. At work I reveled in the stories and photos from around the world chronicling people’s joyous reactions to the election. Did that happen, really happen?

So I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised when I got a phone call mid-morning from the “Literacy Coach” at M.’s school. Last week, after my conversation with AEI, I had written her a brief e-mail. It said that we had communicated with M.’s teacher and counselor, and with the first marking period almost finished, we thought it would be a good time to discuss academic goals for M. in reading and writing and how M.’s need for intellectual peers in English can be met. We looked forward to meeting her at her earliest convenience.

Well, she had barely introduced herself when she said she had been gathering information about M., had spoken with the content specialist, and wanted to propose that M. be moved to a regular 7th grade GT English class or else a co-taught 7th grade GT English class, meaning that there was a “regular teacher” but also a special ed teacher in the class to offer additional supports like additional graphic organizers. How did I feel about the idea?

I was stunned. At our as yet undetermined meeting , Husband Dear and I were planning to propose a “skip” (ahem…subject acceleration) into 7th grade English–and were fully prepared for a fight. Because that’s been our only experience with MCPS. No skips, no how. So to have someone from the school not only make the recommendation for a skip–but even to offer us two choices!–completely blew me away.

Once I recovered from the shock, I offered to give her the results from M.’s magnet testing, as I thought that would bolster the case, and told her several times how appreciative and impressed I was by her proactive, flexible approach. She said she was going to meet with the principal tomorrow to make the case, and if she was on board she would circle back to the reading specialist and make the change in the next few days so M. wouldn’t miss to much in the new marking period. Then, as soon as scheduling would allow, we could arrange for a Kid Day Meeting. Not sure what that is, but it sounded much like an EMT–the entire grade level team plus the counselor would attend–without the formalities.

When I got off the phone, I asked myself, “did that just happen?” It seemed too good to be true. But entirely in keeping with the day’s positive Obama Karma.