Shelly was an excellent student who loved learning Hebrew. She thrived in the
Hebrew immersion environment. Her reading skills were outstanding as well as
her writing skills. She was the type of student that consistently showed her
best effort. Her courage during the past year has inspired all of those
around her.
Her knowledge of Hebrew was a wonderful resource in the classroom. She was
able to help her peers understand my instructions, when they needed extra
help.
When Shelly was diagnosed with a brain tumor, we were all in a state of
shock. But Shelly continued to come to the classroom every day with the same
eagerness to learn. Ruti helped make this happen in a very big way. Right
from the very beginning when Shelly was diagnosed, Ruti made it absolutely
clear to all of Shelly�s teachers that we were to treat her no differently
than any other child in the classroom. Ruti knew that what Shelly needed
most of all was keeping to the regular routine at school. She loved coming to
school. She loved learning. Consequently Shelly was able to spend every
single moment at HDS focused on what she loved to do the best -- learn.
Ruti�s insistence that Shelly be treated in the same way as her peers was
literally the glue that kept our class together. The children knew that
Shelly was accountable for her behavior even though she was battling this
illness. More importantly, Shelly knew it.
Sometimes it was hard for me to stay true to Ruti�s insistence that Shelly be
treated as the others. I remember one time something tickled Shelly�s
funnybone and she literally could not stop laughing, causing a little bit of
a disruption. Actually all the children started laughing probably for about
25 minutes. Later one of the children detected (correctly I must add) that I
applied a different set of standards for Shelly in that situation. I was so
happy to see Shelly with the giggles, that I did not have the heart to
redirect her, even though she had disrupted the lesson. The child cried out
in dismay, �Moreh Aharon, how come Shelly doesn�t get a time out? That�s not
fair. We would get a time out if we couldn�t stop laughing.� After
conversing with Mom, that child came to realize that life really isn�t fair
when you are 6 years old, living with a brain tumor. And I say �living with
a brain tumor� because Shelly was always living, every moment.
Shelly has taught me many things during my relatively brief time as her
teacher. She taught me to persevere, to never give up. She taught me the
true meaning of courage. But most of all Shelly has taught me about the
precious gift we have -- the gift of life. I would like to end by honoring
Shelly�s memory, her love of singing, her love of t�filot, by singing a
nigun, a wordless melody that we chant every day as part of our morning
prayers in kitah bet. Please join me if you feel comfortable doing so.
