James Talarico

Thank you.

So I was, again, first year teacher, kind of freaked out, right?

The kid shows up.

One, he's not a monster.

He's an 11-year-old boy, right?

Like this high, right?

I took him aside, introduced myself, told him I was happy he was in class, told him I wanted to get to know him.

He gradually started to raise his hand a little bit more in class.

He was super smart, super just quick.

He also had like a great smile.

He's very popular with the girls in the class.

A lot of personality.

And I started to invite him to our little lunch group because I had kids who came and ate in my classroom during lunch.

And we started to kind of build a rapport.

He didn't have a lot of male teachers.

So I think that was helpful to see a guy as a teacher and be able to build a relationship with him.

Anyway, right before winter break that year, it was the last day of school, he brought me this wrapped gift.

The wrapping was all janky, but I opened it up and it was this little cup with a snowflake on it that he had bought at the Dollar Tree for his teacher.

Again, this is a kid who was going to stab his fifth grade teacher.

A few months later, he's bringing a snowflake cup to his sixth grade teacher.