Schoolhouse Thanks

I’m fortunate to know a lot of educators.

Whether they are former teachers I was blessed to have had or current educators I am blessed to have met — including many gifted and talented classroom leaders and administrators I met during my tenure as the Frederick News-Post education reporter — I am surrounded by folks who chose to devote their lives to essentially raising up and molding other people’s kids.

It can often be a tough, red-tape-filled, hands-tied, frustrating — and even life-threatening —experience that makes me wonder why any sane, rational, intelligent, could-be-doing-anything-else human being would want to pursue such a career.

And then something like this pops up:

This gem of a thank-you note was presented to Fredrick County Public Schools counselor Heather Quill by one of her “babies” at Parkway Elementary School. In case it's difficult for you to read, here's the text of the note: "Dear Ms. Quill, Thank you. I love what ya gave me. Here a thank you song, la-la, la-la! Thank you so much yeah. Thank you what ya did made me so happy. THANK YOU!"

Heather, one of the more outstanding educators I met in my FNP travels, is blessed to routinely receive such notes of appreciation from her young charges. And when she receives these little gifts, she usually posts them on social media to remind the rest of us that there is hope in the world; that our young students are learning social graces such as the importance of sending thank-you notes; and they are extremely appreciative of the smallest of gestures that help them succeed and also send  the subtle message that they are worth a little extra effort and deserve to have all the tools that other, more affluent classmates might take for granted.

In this case, Heather was able to give this student a few school supplies he or she did not have and the response from the child needs no explanation.

In 2010, Heather worked at Frederick’s Monocacy Elementary School, a school experiencing a renaissance thanks to an energetic, talented, inspired and loving staff then led by a tornado of a principal, Jason Anderson, and assistant principal, Sue Gullo.

Through a variety of innovative approaches, many volunteer hours on the part of staff members, including Saturday morning education sessions disguised as “fun time,” a creative and passionate PTA and other initiatives, Monocacy was enjoying a resurgence as student achievement and morale soared.

Anderson and his team let me practically live at that school for much of a school year and witness the ups and downs and the true inner workings that picked that school up by the boot straps and gave kids a reason to believe, a theme that was stamped all over that building.

That up-close-and-personal look at the school is what allowed me to witness the caring work of Heather, who served as both a counselor to students and a resource teacher for her fellow educators. Her passion for the mission was palpable and her love for her students was unmistakable.

The journalistic result of that time spent at Monocacy was a knock-out Back-to-School enterprise package that to this day still ranks in my top three favorite writing efforts of my career.

Knowing Heather’s style, how she relates to students, how she doesn’t take “no” for an answer and how she will go to the ends of the earth for her babies, it doesn’t surprise me when she gets these heartfelt messages from children who, no matter how young they might be, realize what a gift she is in their lives.

Thanks for sharing those messages of love and appreciation, Heather, and keep them coming. Because we all need to see the positive messages they provide.