Ms. Dravins, now Mrs. Huffman. 

When I was about to go into fourth grade at Richmond Elementary School. I remember finding out that I was getting a much newer teacher, and her name was Ms. Dravins. I felt like I could do good in her class because she might take it easy on me. I also heard that the other fourth grade teachers rarely gave out A’s.  

I remember being in that class with friends, and we would always be joking around. Ms. Dravins would give us a look, and we knew that meant we should stop talking and start learning. Her class was one of the best I ever had just because of the environment she created for us. I had fun learning instead of dreading it. School was the place I wanted to be. 

The major part that separates Ms. Dravins from the rest of my teachers was the connections she made. One day I remember coming into class, thinking this would be the same old fun day with Ms. Dravins. I walked in and looked at her, she was crying and no one knew why. A few moments later when everyone was in class, she shut the door, and sat down on my table. She looked around, and began to talk about what was going on. You could hear that she was very sad, the cracks in her voice, the sniffles after every word. She tried to talk, but couldn’t at first. The entire class sat there, while she looked around the room at us. 

Then, she began talking about one of her best friends, and how she had cancer. I sat there thinking of what she was going through right now. I imagined she wasn’t happy that she was in class teaching, when she could be with her friend. In this moment, instead of being my teacher, Ms. Dravins was just a regular person talking to me about her life. I listened to her talk about how she might be a little off the next few days, and I felt bad for her. I don’t think I ever felt bad for a teacher before. She paused for a little bit, and the class sat in silence. In the ten minutes she spoke, I felt like I learned more about life and expectations than I ever had before. 

After this day, I always would talk to Ms. Dravins, not like she was my teacher, but a person that I could connect to and talk to. I always gave my full attention to her when she was talking because I cared about what she had to say. She wasn’t just teaching me about science and math, she was teaching me life lessons and skills I needed for the future. Ms. Dravins, I want to say thank you for everything you taught me because what I learned in your class has made me who I am today.