Be Somebody’s Hero

We can craft the perfect classrooms
School supplies neatly arranged
Bulletin boards that deserve awards
But it’s our hearts that need to change.

Lesson plans are all aligned to standards
Chromebook lessons set to go.
Google Apps? We have it covered.
But there’s something else we need to know.

Why does Joey seem so lonely?
Why doesn’t Anna have a friend?
Patrick stopped by to chat with me.
Is he avoiding lunch again?

Why is Carmine so impulsive?
Something about Ella doesn’t seem quite right.
I’m worried about John again.
What happens when he goes home at night?

Future doctors, authors, and lawyers
They’re all sitting in our class.
So, too, is that child who’s struggling
Who just can’t seem to meet the task.

Sometimes when we think about students
We think that their problems must be small.
They don’t have mortgages or bosses.
Sometimes I think we don’t know our kids at all.

Teachers, as we are heading back to school
I have one wish. I have one prayer.
If we do just one thing well
Let it be the way we care.

Let it be the way we arrange seats
To help our students make a friend.
Let it be the way we show patience
When Mary forgets her work again.

Let it be the way we keep going
Even when life has dimmed our smiles.
Let it be the way we show grace
Even a teenager’s just a child.

So as we start another school year
We may wish our paychecks had another zero.
But remember our real value
Is to be somebody’s hero.

Jennifer Kleinknecht has been the media specialist at H.B. Whitehorne Middle School since 2007. She writes about life as a school librarian on her blog, “The ‘Yes’ Librarian”. (Photo by Kat J on Unsplash)