Smile moment

…. from here

Where its the first day of classes. Chaos everywhere and I wade through the masses (somewhat curious masses). Arriving at my desk I check the email and find one from a fellow teacher. As I read it I smile. This is the way to start a day:

You turned the corner at precisely the moment my niece, Jillian (she’s in 9th grade) was asking me if it was true that there was a faculty member who used to be a man and was becoming a woman. Here’s the whole charming exchange:

Jillian: My friend told me that this year there’s a teacher who’s a woman but last year was a man. Is that true?

Me: Well, pretty close. There’s a teacher who was a man last year, and she’s in the process of transitioning this year to become a woman. It’ll be a gradual thing throughout the year. She’ll look different and her name is Ms. Rose-Pait now instead of Mr. Pait.

Jillian: Who is Mr. Pait? What did he look like?

(Alissia walks nonchalantly round the corner.)

Me: That was her. When he was Mr. Pait, he had a beard.

Jillian: Yes, I remember! He was very tall and had a beard, and he was very quiet.

Me: That’s right. She works with computers, so unless you are pretty far along in programming, I don’t think you’ll be in her class.

Jillian: Are any teachers acting weird about it? My friends were surprised but more curious than anything else, because we didn’t know if it was a teacher we knew and we were trying to figure out who it could be.

Me: So far, the school seems to be handling it well, and people are acting pretty respectful, and I think Ms. Rose-Pait seems a lot happier than she did before.

Jillian: Yeah, he always looked sad to me last year. Really quiet and sad around the eyes.

Me: He wasn’t happy last year, but she seems really happy now.

Jillian: Wow, that’s cool. That’s great that people are being nice to her too. Hey, do you share a room with Dr. Long? (and the conversation shifted to Jillian’s schedule for the year)

Now, i have to brag that Jillian’s always been a pretty sweet kid and I don’t know if you can take her as a barometer of ninth grade attitudes, but I was kind of touched that the things she noticed about you were “quiet” and “sad” (and “tall”). I hope that every student is able to be happy for you the way that she is. I also love that your transition was worth exactly as much commentary from her as my location on the second floor hallway.

And that’s how I hope it continues to go….allowing all of us to transition from here

…..to there.