Ding Dong School

Back in the fall, I posted a story about volunteering to read to a student in the school district in which my office is located. As I mentioned then, I had dreams of having one of those moments of connection that lead to a Lifetime movie or a visit to Oprah.

Well, the school year finished last week and I'm able to report that none of the above happened. As I mentioned earlier, Nicole was hardly the inner city child yearning to breathe the fresh air of literature. Nor was she the socially awkward young person dying to have an adult's attention so she could grow into a butterfly.

Turns out she was a normal kid, smart enough to figure out how to game the system by participating in this lunchtime reading group. The only thing she suffered from was a serious lack of ability to sit down and listen to someone reading to her. Oh, that and a complete lack of table manners. Neither of which doom her to a life of crime, I suspect.

We never were able to finish a book that suited her age group, but we did speed through a couple of storybooks written for kids years younger than herself. Toward the end of the year, the program administrator embarrassed Nicole into selecting a book more appropriate for her age, and we got through several chapters of it before calling it quits when the program ended.

We did share one small moment of learning. The word "gekko" appeared in that last book we read and I stopped to ask her if she knew what a gekko was. She furrowed her brow, and in spite of her best efforts to hide it, had to admit she didn't. I asked if she remembered seeing Geico commercials? She brightened immediately and said "Oh, yes!" And then said, "Oh, I get it - Geico...Gekko!" So there. My work with Nicole paid off in one short sentence.

The question now is whether to sign up again next year? Part of me wants to spend another year with her just to see if we could get another moment or two like this. And, judging by her clothing, she's a serious Red Sox fan. The other part of me says it's not worth the aggravation. We'll have to figure it out in the fall.