He was in the first third grade class I taught at Saint Mary’s School in Morris, Minnesota. All 34 of my students were dear to me, but Mark Eklund was one in a million. [He was] very neat in appearance but had that happy-to-be-alive attitude that made even his occasional mischieviousness delightful.
Mark talked incessantly. I had to remind him again and again that talking without permission was not acceptable. What impressed me so much, though, was his sincere response every time I had to correct him for misbehaving: “Thank you for correcting me, Sister!” I didn’t know what to make of it at first, but before long I became accustomed to hearing it many times a day.
One morning my patience was growing thin when Mark talked once too often, and then I made a novice teacher’s mistake. I looked at him and said, “If you say one more word, I am going to tape your mouth shut!” Read more…
Six-year-old Haylea Starr Knight of Reidsville is giving a special gift to a child this Christmas season ? her hair.
Knight has had open heart surgery twice. She knows what it’s like to have help from others, and she wants to help other children who are in poor health.
Knight wrote to Locks of Love, and she also sent 13 inches of her silky blonde hair.
“This year for the holidays I wanted to do something for a kid who has cancer,” Knight writes in her letter. “When I was in the hospital having surgery to fix my heart, my nurse told me about Locks of Love, since my hair was long. I told my mom I wanted to get my hair cut to make a wig for a kid that has cancer. So I had a haircut and we are sending my ponytail to them, so a kid can smile with hair for the holidays.” Read more…
When children enter the Cedar Valley Friends of the Family shelter, it’s because their world has been turned upside down.
Little Katie Wichman has set out to help right things a bit. The Waverly first-grader, who turns 7 today, has decided to give all of her birthday presents to children at the shelter.
“We were driving home one day and talking about what she wanted for her birthday,” said Katie’s mom, Kelli. “Out of the blue she said she wanted to give toys to other kids.”
Kelli let the idea rest for a couple of days until Katie brought it up again.
“We explained to her what that meant, that whatever was brought to her birthday party she would give away,” Kelli said. “She said, ‘I would give away all my toys to another little girl if I could.’”
Her parents say they were pleasantly surprised. Read more…
