Inspiring Person #2

      Ms. Parsons was never actually a teacher of mine but she still was a individual who had a profound effect on my life. Mrs. Parsons was the special needs teacher at my old school. She taught my friend’s sister and other disabled children that were in my buddy class. She was a compassionate human being that taught her students out of love and not just for the paycheck. She was endlessly patient and understood the torment that the parents faced everyday. She is a lady that cared for every student that came her way. Ms. Parsons went out of her way to make the children in her room feel as normal as possible. She never made the children in her class feel different, she treated them the way she would any other child.

   The school district did not give the special needs classrooms that much funding. There was no requirement in Ms. Parson’s contract that said that she had to have toys. She still bought toys and books out of her own money for the children to use. Ms. Parson’s once confessed to my friend’s mother that she did not have to sit at the table and eat lunch with the children. She did anyway, she sacrificed her own break time to feed the children and sit with them.  She spoke to all classrooms about special needs and what we could do to help. She was the one who organized classroom visits, so that her children could come into our classrooms and play with us.

   Ms. Parson’s acceptance of people who were different from her inspired me to accept people who don't talk the same way as me or wear the same clothes as me. I realized that I would feel terrible inside if somebody were to treat me as if I was strange or different. Ms. Parson's students may have had mental disabilities but they were still people and they deserved to be treated like humans. It was really uplifting how when her kids came to our classrooms most of my classmates would jump up and greet them. It was also uplifting how my friends and I were not the only ones kids in my class who would sacrifice their free time with friends and sit with Ms. Parson’s kids at lunch.