Today's #educationedition #WCW is an educator whom I met before she even learned how to crawl, my first scholar, Mrs. Megan Dotson!
Psalm 127:3
“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.”
Megan's mom and my sister are best friends from their high school days. When this child was in the womb, my sister became her godmother. So how do I come into the picture you wonder... I was asked to become Megan's "nanny" during one summer before her 2nd birthday as I was going to school part-time, working, and just trying to find my way and my place in the world. I figured that Megan and I would hang out, go to the park, take naps, and just chill from day-to-day.
*DON'T MISS THIS NEXT PART*
By day #2 of my "nanny-ing", Megan completely changed my mindset! This beautiful little soul was one of the most genuinely inquisitive people that I'd ever come across...
- "what's that, shanny?"
- "where that go, shanny?"
- "go outside, shanny?"
- "why don't eat that, shanny?"
Her eyes would light up so bright every time that she realized that I understood what she was asking and then she'd glow with pride and excitement whenever I'd answer one of her questions. I could not believe how eager she was to learn about... well EVERYTHING!!
We'd have daily excursions, lunch dates, cleaning chaos time, "cooking class" [I'd let her mix in the ingredients that she wanted in her pudding, cereal, soup, etc.], "potty training seminars" [that was held in the garage with her blow-up pool, water balloons, and bubbles... weird, I know but it worked!], "music appreciation sessions" [I'd play all different styles of music on the stereo and she'd "match" the tone by singing, playing the piano, or by a combo of both], and my favorite was our "dance parties" [a mix of ballet, hip hop, and whatever dance that'd done on Barney that day... BTW, I really didn't like this show, but it was my girl's #1 jam soooo.... 0_0].
She changed my life that entire year that I got the chance to pour into her and her into me. She became and still is one of the most important people in my world because she always wonders and pursues "what could be", no matter the obstacle. She is imbued with a delightful inquisitive nature that flows to and from whoever is in her presence.
Because of this gift, she has become the most precious of educators that you could ever find, someone who can really "see" her scholars and connect with them in only the way that someone like her, who innately knows to simply fill them with the type of goodness that will guide them towards discovery at every turn... just like she did for me.
I love and thank you for being a G.O.A.T. Educator just by always being uniquely you, my Megan!