A Special Guest

A few weeks ago, I got a phone call to have a special guest come into my classroom.

At first, I was in total disbelief. A person from a foundation had contacted our school and wanted to donate books. The call was sent on to me.

 

It turns out the call was to have books donated and for Julius Thomas (Broncos tight end) to come to my classroom. I tried everything to get it to be for all three fifth grades, but they only wanted one so we scheduled a visit for him to come in.

 

He had to cancel on Monday which was hard as I wasn't sure he could find time to squeeze us in again. Amazingly, on Friday our chance came.

As he was getting ready to come, I got three calls during the day. The kids went silent and tried to listen on the phone. They were so excited to meet him! His purpose is that he wants to be a positive influence in the community and wants to talk to kids about reading. He created a foundation called "Reading Equates to Success". 

The kids loved it- they asked great questions and sat listening to him speak for almost 30 minutes. He talked about favorite books, his huge feet, playing sports and reading as a fun activity. The kids felt so inspired.  

After he spoke, he had brought them all pictures to sign. Now, I knew this was a possibility, but wasn't sure. And, I assumed he would just hand out presigned photos. Nope- he sat down surrounded by kids as they spelled their names and he addressed it to them. Then it got crazy and they asked for him to sign other things and pictures to their family members- he was so kind to do that for the kids. 

After they all left, I was able to visit for a minute with Julius. It was so nice to just see him apart of the community and wanting to encourage kids. I felt honored that he chose my class to get this opportunity. He definitely is someone to watch in football and the world. Thank you!