Thursday Afternoon
On Thursday afternoon after school, I was in my room winding down. A few students had been getting help, but they were gone. K came running around the corner. She was in shorts and a jersey and was covered in sweat. She had a smile on her face.
“I was worried you might be gone,” she gasped. And she handed me something that looked like a certificate.
It was an invitation for teacher appreciation night. She had chosen me to come stand with her at the beginning of Friday’s home game.
“Can you be there?” she asked.
“Of course!”
Friday Evening
When the time came before the game on Friday, they lined us up on the sideline for the national anthem. And then, athlete by athlete, teacher by teacher, they planned to call us out to center court.
“Let’s run,” K said. “You used to run marathons, so we can run, right?”
“Right!”
And when the announcer called her name and mine, we dashed through a tunnel of up-held arms. We ran out to center court, where we stood, athlete-teacher-athlete-teacher while the crowd applauded for the girls and for the teachers they chose to recognize.
“I have a gift for you,” she said as we left the court.
Each of the girls had a little bag for each of us. In my bag, was a tall can of Arizona green tea, a bag of Chex Mix, and an autographed ball — in my case, a ball with a bit of a math pun K had written on it.
That ball will be featured prominently on my desk tomorrow morning.
