Class

You were my queen in calico,
I was your bashful, barefoot beau.
You wrote on my slate, "I love you so"
When we were a couple of kids.
  - Will Cobb & Gus Edwards, 1907

What a difference a year makes.

Thank you to the miraculous staff of the Adelson Educational Campus, who took two incredibly challenged, uprooted and unadjusted children at the beginning of this school year, and gave them safety, comfort, love and stability, and a path to academic peformance and improved self esteem that so profoundly surpasses what they were able to accomplish last year in public school, the difference in their lives, both socially and academically, lights up the sky.

Like the Academy Awards, I know I'll inadvertently miss someone, but Morah Nicki, Ms. Schorr in the Art Room, Coach Lamph, and Mr. C in Music (one day I really will learn how to spell Culcasi), you are our heroes and our hope.

Ms. Colwell, our amazing Head of Lower School, Mr. Schiffman, our Head, who gave us inspiration and nothing but forward-thinking optimism from Day One, and Ms. Kalb, who equally enbraced us with her loving welcome way back in the June assessment that already seems a lifetime ago, thank you.

To Mr. Mancuso, your astounding financial aid team, and the cooperative miracles made possible by you and the amazing Las Vegas Jewish Federation, we owe you our very existence. I don't quite know if you all fully understand yet how much you've changed the world for this new famly, but it is beyond what you think you've done. It has altered the course of four new lives immeasurably, every day.

And to Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, I will never know why you made this school part of your life's mission, but I can't help feeling in all four corners of my grateful, egocentric heart that it was for children just like ours. Born into a world of drug addiction and parental neglect, shuttled into a System that changed their faith and took their very identity away, Justice and Justin could have been lost for a very long time. They could have been lost to their Judaism. Lost to an overburdened public school system without the resources to help them. But now here they are in your world. And they're thriving.

And I know you didn't create all this with them in mind, but here they are. And you two are the benevolent champions who gave them their life back. Every day we drop them at your door, you should know what kind of miracle that is. If that's even part of what you hoped to accomplish by giving this world such a remarkable haven, then part of that dream came true this year. And it's name was Justice and Justin. Thank you.

No voyeuristic peek through the curtains of our fledgling family room would be complete without a look at their most recent report cards, and to that, I turn to all the teachers and heroes above, and two in particular I haven't mentioned yet.

If Jewish schools had saints - and sometimes I think they should - the first two women I'd hold forward for instant canonization are Ms. Henke and Mrs. Medof, our two in the trenches, who, in the complete personification of go-team-go, put the "home" in our "homeroom," and whose nearly bewildering committment to our children went so far past simple duty or professionalism this year, I can't even articulate our level of gratitude, respect and raw admiration without wiping my tears away.

Dena and Antoinette, if there's a special easy chair in heaven for those who give from the heart and give from the head and literally turn at-risk children's worlds around, then sit back, grab your headphones and put your feet up, we're buying you Temperpedic thrones. I'll be fanning you with palm leaves and Adam will be feeding you grapes. We've held people in esteem before, but never like this. Never like you. Bless you both, with all our hearts. While we've been teaching them how to learn to love, you taught Justin and Justice how to love to learn, and I can't even tell you how important that makes you in their lives without reaching for the Kleenex.

Math: "Justin is moving right along in math. He has a very bright mind and is able to understand math concepts quickly and with ease. He is a great problem solver and his mental math connections are right on target. He is able to sit and listen better in class which helps him to stay focused and not make silly mistakes. I am amazed at how well he can sit during math activity time and calendar time. Justin is doing just great and I am so proud at how far he has come this quarter."

Reading: "Justin is making very steady and good progress. Even when he meets a challenge, he perserveres and is able to read the text to the best of his ability without frustration. His fluency is building as well as his pace. Justin has great recall skills and remembers what happens in the story. During center time, he is staying well focused and he does his work diligently and neatly. Fantastic job, Justin."

Science: "Justin is doing so well. Since he is more focused, he is able to retain so much more information discussed. He participates more and feels so much pride when he is able to answer questions correctly. He has had so much fun learning about space and the solar system. He loves all the activities we do in class and is very enthusiastic when we learn new things."

Music: "Justin exhibits good grasp of basic rhythm skills and has learned to keep the beat steady when we work with drums, bells or we are simply dancing. He is a pleasure to have in class."

Phys Ed: "Justin continued to display strong athletic skills during the second quarter of Physical Education. Although Justin is a kind boy, he gets caught up in the games and becomes a bit aggressive. I would like to see him focus on improving his teamwork and sportsmanship."

Art: "Justin is a natural artist and a delight to have in class!"

Judaics & Hebrew: "Binyamin is doing well academically in Hebrew and Judaics this quarter. We are still working on keeping our hands and bodies to ourself as well as waiting to be called on before giving an answer, but we will get there! Keep working hard and stay focused!"

Social Studies: "Another area I see so much growth. He is able to listen to stories and participate in open discussions. I love to see the joy on his face when he makes mental connections to what he is being taught. He has a good heart and compassion for others. He has learned a lot about Jewish history and American history this quarter."

Writing: "Justin is right where he needs to be in writing this quarter. He is doing much better with concentration and finishing his product. His printing, spacing and grammar skills are much improved. He is trying much hader to phonetically and skillfully sound out words to put in his sentences. He works more independently and is able to complete his work when asked. Justin is finding good success with his writing."

Work Habits and Behavior: "Justin has made such amazing progress this quarter. The medication has helped him on every level in class. He always had an amazing heart and he loves to learn, but this change has helped him to really enjoy learning. I see him only going up from here. We are still working on taking responsibility for our own actions and not worrying so much about others. He has improved, but he still tends to oversee others in class. I tell him that is my job, but I don't think he believes me. I just love him."

And we love you, Ms. Henke. We thank you for your endless patience and your try-any-angle perserverence as Adam and I waded through a nightmare of red tape and county-ordered clumsiness, trying simply to get Justin the medicine he needed to sit still in your class. If anyone at Aldelson should have been drawing hazard pay from August 27th to December 19th, it was you. But you did it with good humor, endless optimism, and boundless encouragement to us, to Justin, and to all we were going through. You became our ally in every sense of the word, and in a family like ours, your full, frank friendship was a blessing. Talk about earning your paycheck the hard way. Your laughter and support while we both made "hang in there" our mantra, are already heirlooms of a first year's victories, tucked firmly into our hearts.

Antoinette. While Adam and I spent so much time in our early months fearful over what was going wrong with our new daughter's adjustment, you remained warm and wise, perceptive and corrective, introducing us to the side of Justice you saw every day...the compassionate girl who helps her friends...the gentle, good, considerate Justice who pays attention, goes out of her way to love and learn. In your world, we learned with great relief, she's not labeled with defiance disorders and oppositional behaviors. Her difficult adjustment at home had little bearing on the tender grace within her heart she displays in your classroom, and it meant the world to us that you kept letting us know that, every time you saw us.

Work Habits and Behavior: "Justice continues making great progress in first grade. She is a focused worker and attentive listener and is consistently cheerful and helpful with classmates. Justice has expanded her friendships and is a sought-after playmate. She is a delight."

Art: "Justice is a delight to have in class!"

Hebrew & Judaics: "Rachel is doing a fantastic job in Hebrew and Judaics. She is a focused, attentive learner who participates a lot in class and really tries her best. It is a pleasure to have her in class."

Math: "Justice has done a very good job in math this semester. Her work on unit tests and cumulative reviews shows she has a very good understanding of the material that was presented. When working with new skills and concepts, Justice needs some additional practice and review. Once she feels confident, she works with more accuracy and enjoyment."

Phys Ed: "Justice works to achieve the objective each day in Physical Education. She is an attentive listener who is ready to take on the task, knowing what is expected of her. Keep up the good work, Justice."

Reading: "Justice has shown excellent skills on her tests, earning perfect scores on all but two tests this quarter. Indpendent work has also improved and Justice now works with more focus and enjoyment. Justice seems proud of her growing skills in reading. She has had a good term!"

Social Studies: "Justice was a conscientious, involved learner during our studies of maps, the continents, and Antarctica. She produced excellent work."

Writing: "Justice has worked hard to improve her writing this semester. Justice earned perfect scores on the end of Unit 3 and Cumulative Review tests, demonstrating that she had excellent recall of the skills presented. Justice writes with more confidence and enjoyment. Her compositions are longer and more detailed. At times her sentences are so long that it is hard to follow the sequence of her stories. Justice is working on expressing her ideas clearly and more concisely without compromising her creativity. She has made progress in each area of writing. She should be proud of her accomplishments!"

We are enormously proud of what Justice and Justin have accomplished this year at their new school, and we are thrilled to report they have been welcomed back to Adelson next year as first and second-graders. If you see a teacher today, or a school administrator - anyone who works for a school, anywhere - thank them. They really are our greatest hope for our children's future. I don't think I understood that until now. Not really, anyway. Comes a time in your life when cliche and common platitudes become staggeringly, joyfully real. Internalize that one, Skippy. Schools really do change the world.

Of all crazy songs to think of during an essay on our kids' education and the gift we've been given by the teachers, administration and financial backers at the Adelson Educational Campus who continue to make it all possible, I can't get this one out of my mind:

And now we're standing face to face
Isn't this world a crazy place
Just when I thought the chance had passed
You go and save the best for last

Sometimes the snow comes down in June
Sometimes the sun goes round the moon
Just when I thought the chance had passed
You go and save the best for last

You did, you know. You took two good, beautiful children whose hearts were full but whose hopes were compromised and you redefined their future. You set them sailing.

"Teach a child three things," the Talmud instructs from the sign above the beautiful swimming pool they play and learn in. "Torah, a trade, and how to sail on water."

Well done, all of you, because if anybody has lifted them buoyantly into a new tomorrow no one had the audacity to imagine, it's you. And now it's second star to the right and straight on till morning.

I hope you know we are forever grateful.