“The only reason I’m able to do the things I do today was because of that solo”

The Background

A good friend of mine davens in my shul in RBS. The following story happened to his wife, and he graciously shared it with me.  

I

’m a rebbi, and my wife is a morah who has spent the last two decades in the classroom. I’ve always been a big believer in paying close attention to the classroom dynamics between the students, but what really brought home this idea is something that happened to my wife.

Ten years ago, there was a student in her class who was being bullied. There were several contributing factors — her out-of-date clothing, her poor academic skills, and most significantly, her low self-esteem. My wife felt very bad, though short of giving her that little bit of extra TLC and helping her with schoolwork, she didn’t know what else she could do to improve her student’s social standing. Still she kept her eyes and ears open at all times — waiting for something she could use to change the equation.

At some point, my wife took the girls on a trip to Kever Rochel to mark their finishing to learn the Shemoneh Esreh. On the way, the girls sang, and the girl who was bullied, who was sitting right behind my wife, joined in as well. My wife was startled to realize that she had an absolutely stunning voice.

She didn’t comment then, but filed away the information. Inside though, she was excited. She knew that if she played her cards right, things might begin changing in her classroom.