I have looked at Cody-Kilgore through the eyes of a student, the eyes of a teacher, the eyes of my husband, and now I am looking at the school I have always held dear through the eyes of a parent. Let me tell you, never has the wonderfulness of this place shone more brightly to me than yesterday as I went through the lunch line. But, before I tell my story of the awesome moment in the lunch line, I need to give you some background...
Our girls are nearly perfect. I may be a bit partial but seriously, they clean, they bake, they play ridiculous games with us and laugh at all of George's jokes...they are awesome. The only little hiccup has been that one of them (Amy) does not like beef. Someone who doesn't like beef in beef country is in trouble! I have adjusted some of my cooking to help accommodate this because I love chicken as much as I love beef but school lunches had me concerned. So, I had been keeping an eye on the menu at school and offering a packed lunch any days that I knew the meal was primarily beef based. Most days though our lovely little non-beef eater has just made do with whatever was on the salad bar (she doesn't like salad either though).
So, I was in lunch line not far behind our girls. Spaghetti was on the menu and usually we have both meat sauce and alfredo sauce offered to us when we have spaghetti at school. Therefore, I was not overly concerned about Amy finding something to eat. As we went through the line, one of our two amazing cooks brought a bowl of chicken for Amy to eat with her spaghetti. I was so touched by this gesture. I always knew Carissa and Teresa were amazing (our cook, Debbie, at the elementary is too) but I never would have expected them to make something just for one of my daughters because they were concerned she wasn't getting enough to eat.
In that moment, I was reminded why our staff is simply the best. They always go the extra mile to make the students feel comfortable, welcomed, and accepted. It may not have taken much time to warm-up the chicken or been that big of a deal BUT the thought and extra effort was so appreciated not only by Amy but also by her "parents." Looking through the eyes of a parent, I saw something so wonderful in that moment--someone caring about my "child" as much as I do. In my opinion, that is what education should look like. I tell my students I love them before every concert and I mean it; I really love my students even when they frustrate me and I guess that is probably how their parents feel about them too!
We were talking about the school and community with our girls last night. They both confirmed what I have always believed to be true--that Cody-Kilgore is special and that small town U.S.A. living is great. Dani told us she thought she had an idea of where she was going and what it would look like out here but there was no way for her to imagine where she actually ended up. Neither girl thought people could live in a place so isolated and yet they both indicated (at least to us) that living here is not a bad thing. We hope that they continue to feel this way and learn to love the country as much (or nearly as much) as we do.
Since a blog should always have a picture, I will share this one of a typical Lakeview sunrise (taken from our front yard):
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