A Touching Story

Armando was a student in my classroom two years ago.  I can remember that he was very polite and shy.  He tried really hard in class and never gave me a problem.  One day we were having a picnic outside.  I noticed that Armando stayed close to the table that contained the food the students consumed that day.  He would walk away to play with the other students at times but he did not interact with them much on this particular day.  After several hours of being outside, I took the students to the classroom to rest.  I noticed that Armando seemed to have something stuffed in his pockets.  It turned out that he was trying to take food home so that his family could eat that night.  I was very puzzled to hear this news.  When Armando's family came to pick him up, I made the comment that we had food left over from our picnic and all the students were able to take food home so it would not go to waste.  I will never forget the expression on his mother's face as she packed the sandwiches and chips to take home.  I realized from that point that we never really know what is going on inside the homes of our students.  What a fascinating and courgeous child this was to want to help out his family.