Today I’m grateful for the sweetest little wish-well I ever did see.

11.2.2023

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I have had a wish-well heart in my classroom for many years. It’s really just a pizza pan with a large red heart hot glued on it, but what it represents is something much cooler. I have little pictures of each student on magnets, and if a student is absent we put their picture in the heart and then “wish them well” until they return. I have an assigned wish-well helper in my class each month and they are in charge of keeping the wish-well heart up to date. They also lead the class in a little wish-well exercise and song where we collectively send a little love to the person or people in the heart. Sometimes we’ll also send a little wish-well love to people for other reasons too – like to someone we’re missing, or someone we’re worried about, or someone we want to show a little extra care for. It's pretty cool. It helps the kids develop empathy, helps build our classroom community, and, at times, it gives kids something tangible to do with their big, overwhelming feelings.

Over the past week or two I noticed a little boy in my classroom who seemed especially excited about the wish-well part of our morning meeting, so when I assigned new classroom jobs for November, he got the coveted wish-well role. Today was Day 2 of his very important job, and to say he was excited was an understatement.

Today was also my principal’s birthday. I had added her name, along with a birthday balloon, on my classroom calendar this month, so this morning when we were changing the date and discussing the day ahead of us we talked about how it was her special day. I suggested to the kids that if they saw the principal in the hallway or around school that day that it would be really kind to wish her a happy birthday.

Now fast forward about 5 and ½ hours. It was late in the afternoon and we were in the middle of a lesson. A student raised her hand and frantically reported to the class that the day was almost over and we had yet to run in to the principal and therefore hadn’t delivered any birthday wishes. This created a palpable stir and panic amongst the Kindergarteners, and I could see their little brains instantly snap into problem-solving mode. While I was explaining to the kids that a belated birthday wish given tomorrow would surely suffice, another student blurted out “Can we wish her well??” This was met with immediate agreement by the class and by me. As I acknowledged this great idea, I couldn’t help but notice the humongous smile that popped on to my little wish-well helper’s face. He was pumping his fist and beaming with excitement. He was needed and he was ready to report for duty. He jumped up in front of the class and led us all as we scooped up the principal in our hands, placed her in our hearts, took a deep breath, and collectively sang our wish-well song to send her a little birthday love. It was genuine and sweet and incredibly precious.

There are a lot of difficult moments in teaching, but man, oh man, there are a lot of beautiful ones too. Kindergarteners are pretty special, I tell ya. I love that their sweetness and their innocence and their sense of urgency in that moment prompted a complete stop in our activity for a collective moment of kindness. I love the confidence and sense of purpose that exuded from the wish-well helper’s call to action, and I’m beyond grateful that I got a front row seat for it all.