This is a photo of Emily when she graduated from college.
That's a long way from where I met her in 1997.
I was a principal and I was teaching fifth grade math in the South Bronx.
Every Saturday, I hosted tutoring for kids who hadn't mastered that week's objective.
So while their friends went to dance or sports or
orchestra, yeah well, they came to me for math.
Good times.
Actually, I loved those mornings and
I did everything I could to make it fun for the kids.
We made up a game called racing for donuts.
The first student who got the problems right with complete accuracy
got to choose from a box of donuts I brought in.
You may remember these boxes of donuts.
There were the chocolate, the powdered sugar, and the old fashioned.
Now the first kids who finished, they always took, yeah,
they took the chocolate.
The next set of kids, yeah, they always went for the powdered donuts.
And then, the next set of kids, even when they could've chosen the old fashion,
they just left those behind the boxes for the teachers.
Emily was also super eager to try.
She was the type of kid who always raised her hand confident that she was right,
even though, quite often she wasn't.
She was a joy to teach.
Even though there were many, many tears as she worked to master the math, but
there she was.
Saturday, after Saturday, after Saturday.
I'll never forget that Spring when she finally had the chance to
earn the powdered donut.
The last powdered donut.
She was laughing and smiling, and like a fifth grader, the powder was everywhere.
It was like a blizzard, a snowstorm on her cheeks and her forehead.
She was so happy that she had earned her powdered donut.