this house

"We've got to take the time to search the mind to find..."

Noelle had searched the entire classroom for that box. She had only been teaching this class for three weeks and she was overwhelmed. More importantly, she was out of fresh ideas. Today had been shoe box day. Everyone had to bring in their favorite shoebox and she brought in a bunch of plain ones. The kids had to paint the plain ones to match the ones they brought.

Of course only a few the students had gotten remotely close. After all they were only in the first grade. And art was a mandatory class. Of course there were kids who didn't bring boxes so she had grabbed some of her shoe boxes from the closet and brought them in. Noelle had grabbed three boxes from her personal collection. And she knew the three students that would be without. Andy, Jolie, and Mark.

But now her shoebox was missing. Noelle sat down defeated at her oversized desk. She wondered if one of the kids had taken it home or whether they had simply trashed it because it meant nothing to them. To Noelle it was the sacred home to her most prized pair of shoes. The golden, strappy Jimmy Choos. She nearly teared imagining her treasured shoes sitting unprotected on her closet floor.

Just then a parent appeared at her door. At least she thought it was a parent. This woman looked more tired and overworked than the parents she was used to in this private school. The woman identified herself as Andy's mother and handed her the missing shoebox. The mother apologized and left abruptly.

Noelle took her returned box home triumphantly. During the night she became more and more restless as to why Andy took her shoebox. Despite never having his materials for class, he was an attentive, respectful, and bright kid. The next day, Noelle called Andy into her class during the recess and asked him about his actions.

Andy explained bashfully. His mother was a waitress and wore the same shoes everyday. She always complained about those shoes. She had said they were an eyesore. Andy reasoned that since Noelle had so many shoe boxes she wouldn't miss one, so he took the box he thought was the fanciest home to his mother. Then maybe she would like her shoes more too.

Andy returned to recess and Noelle sat her desk too stunned to even tear up. She thought bitterly about the way she coveted that stupid shoebox for shoes she wore maybe twice a year. It all seemed so stupid now. Here little Andy had used twice as much knowledge and ten times as much kindness than her.

Noelle had Andy stay after the next day. She wanted to send the real box but it occurred to her that Andy's mother might take offense. So the two created a replica. As Noelle sent Andy home grinning ear to ear, she wondered what else she had been missing in these children. She had been so focused on herself, her lesson plans, her parent-teacher conferences. She realized she had barely scratched the surface of what these kids were capable of.