Russ's Ravings: The Teacher Made My Daughter Cry

Editor's note: The following is Patch Field Editor Russ Crespolini's, hopefully, weekly column. It is reflective of his opinion alone.

My daughter cried on her way home from school on the bus today. Not because she was bullied. Not because she had homework or was stressed over a test. No, today was the last day of school and she cried because it was over. Before she left second grade for the last time her teacher looked her straight in the eye and said, "I will see you next year."

"Daddy, I turned away and lost it and I cried for ten minutes on the bus," she said to me when she got home Wednesday afternoon.

I had no idea what to do with this situation. I used to cry on the bus all the time. But it was because kids were calling me fat, or surreptitiously wringing their umbrellas out on my seat so it would look like I wet my pants.

I never cried because I was sad school was over. School was tough for me. Being bullied caused me to develop a sarcastic sense of humor as a defense mechanism. It frustrated both the bullies and the teachers. In the fourth grade I talked circles around a gym teacher who was trying to shame me for not being able to do a pull-up to the point where he threw a kickball at my head out of frustration.

He missed. And back in 1988 things were different so his job was never in jeopardy.

But I never felt sad leaving at the end of the day or at the end of the year. This was uncharted territory for me.

And it is because my daughter's elementary school has become as much her home as the house she goes to sleep in every night.

I cannot express to you the feeling as a parent to know that your child is going to a place where she is not only protected and educated but is cared for and nurtured. A place where she is loved and accepted. A place where she is seen for who she is, and celebrated for it.

And that is due to the phenomenal people who are employed in the district. And this is not just teachers, although they are all exceptional, this is every member of the support staff and the volunteers and the administrators and the people in transport and security. When a school is run right, it just hums. It breathes with a life all of its own and it crackles with an energy that students can feel and that parents should be so grateful for.

And I know that my experience is not a singular one. Not in the district we are in and not in New Jersey. Through work I get to see tons of tributes this time of year from Parent Teacher Organizations and from the various schools I cover sharing highlights and triumphs. So many educators have gone above and beyond to make sure that the school is not just a place where you go to learn but a place where you go to grow.

My daughter has had amazing experiences this year and all her years in elementary school. It is what makes the struggles her journalist and social worker parents have to pay for where we live worth it.

So I tried my best to cheer her up. I took her to the Video Game Vault to play old video games and let her pick wherever she wanted for dinner. She tried, but ultimately asked to go home early because she couldn't shake her melancholy.

And as sad as that is, what a tribute to the amazing professionals who give so much of themselves to nurture our children.

The teacher made my daughter cry today, for all the right reasons.

Here are some other things I am raving about this week:

This week was a little hectic in one of the community's I cover. A man armed with a handgun and a lot of ammunition was arrested in the parking lot of a school last week. The fallout included some strong statements from the police chief and some equally strong statements by the arrested man's brother.

This week my wife and I binge watched CASTLE ROCK on Hulu. Anyone else try that? I love mysteries and even though it is based off of Stephen King's works it really wasn't a horror thing.

I also had this story about a couple that got married 30 seconds before their son was born.

And my boss filed a piece about a great white shark attacking some chum buckets off of the Jersey shore...just in time for the 44th anniversary of JAWS.

On deck:

I am still working at some pieces on vacations and would love to hear from you.

• Do you have a regular vacation spot your family sneaks away to?
• Do you have a day trip destination that is your go-to?

Comment below or drop me a line at russ.crespolini@patch.com

Russ Crespolini is a Field Editor for Patch Media and adjunct professor at County College of Morris and The College of Saint Elizabeth where he advises both campus newspapers. His columns have won awards from the National Newspaper Association and the New Jersey Press Association. He writes them in hopes of connecting with readers and engaging with them. And because it is cheaper than therapy. He can be reached at russ.crespolini@patch.com