If each of her siblings were a diamond in her mother’s crown, Bailey felt like the dull space between the glinting stones

Bailey took a break from her frantic scribbling on the board and looked longingly at the song sheets still on her desk from the previous week.

A ripple of laughter burbled across the classroom, and Bailey felt the heat rising in her face as she turned to face her students. They were bored, for heaven’s sake. Well, she was too.

She looked down at her watch. Twenty more minutes until class was over. Sneaking a quick glance at the window in the door facing the hallway, she made a quick calculation. Mommy was meeting with the yearbook editors now; she probably wouldn’t leave her office before recess.

“You know what, girls,” said Bailey, eyes twinkling, “we’ve worked hard enough today. Let’s do something fun.” She noted with satisfaction that the glazed looks were gone.

Flipping her brown sheitel over her shoulder, she began issuing rapid-fire instructions. “Okay, girls in the first row, you need to make a game incorporating all these dates on the board. Quick! We only have 20 minutes left. Next row, you girls need to make a review game on the material we covered yesterday. Last row, here’s an oaktag, draw something that we can hang up in our classroom summarizing what we’ve learned this past week in historia.”

The classroom erupted with noise, and the girls chattered loudly as they separated into their groups. Bailey sat down on the cracked leather chair, sighing with relief.

Bailey had started off the year dazzling her students with fun, exciting lessons. They’d done skits portraying different periods in Jewish history, composed songs, and played hilarious review games. The girls had had a blast, and Bailey had fun too. But when May came and she realized that she was still only about 60 percent through her curriculum, she had no choice but to start cramming it all in.

But the girls weren’t happy to buckle down to serious learning, and truthfully, neither was she. Each day felt endless.

She was in the car driving home when her cell phone rang. It was Mommy. Bailey felt her shoulders stiffen.

Mrs. Rosen had never understood Bailey, her creativity, her spunk. The principal’s world was one of letter grades and number scores; Bailey’s burst of color had no place there. But now, Bailey was one of the most popular teachers in Bnos Tova. She reminded herself of her new status and tried to relax as she took the call.

“Hi, Mommy, how are you?”

“Hi Bailey, just checking in. I didn’t see you earlier. Did you get the memo in the teachers’ boxes about the assembly on Monday?” Bailey gripped the steering wheel. Did her mother check on all her teachers? Or was it just Bailey she didn’t trust? She willed herself to speak calmly.