Good Teachers

How do you get a good teacher for your kids?

We had to stop by Mr. Houdyshell's house down the street on Halloween.

You pray and pray and pray and have a little bit of luck.

We have hit the jackpot all three years, first at Carver Early Childhood Academy (which we had to win a lottery to get accepted to). I truly believe all the teachers at Carver are amazing.

For first grade, after much decision, we moved the kids to City View Elementary in our neighborhood. Our first clue that we'd made the right choice was finding out our principal has twins!

He encouraged us to put E and O in the same class as long as they don't jeopardize each other's learning and performance, and because "it's easier on the parents if the kids have the same homework." What a great guy!

And then we met our teacher: Mr. Houdyshell. My first impression was, "a man who wants to teach first graders? This guy must be something special." When we met him, my theory proved correct. A tall, attractive 45-year-old man with an abundance of energy, a kind face and an infectious smile. When we walked in for Greet The Teacher night, he said, "These must be my twins!" He grabbed their little faces and said, "You two are the cutest things in the whole wide world!"

Yep, we were happy.

He lives just down the street, and he insisted we stop by his house on Halloween. He is great at taking pics with his phone, and if you give him permission, he'll put them on Facebook. He's into modern-day communication, and I really appreciate that!

One of the coolest things about him: he has instilled in our kids a huge love of presidential history. He is a huge JFK fan, devoting a corner of his classroom to the slain president. From what I can tell, he teaches more on presidential history than the average first-grade teacher, but Nate and I are thrilled. The twins are soaking it up and eating it up, asking us to take them to the bookstore for more books about presidents. They even asked for Washington and Lincoln costumes for Christmas! They're collecting coins to try to have as many representations of presidents as possible.

Having the twins in Mr. Houdyshell's class is an answered prayer. He's shaping their little lives in so many wonderful ways.

We can only pray that our good fortune continues to second grade and beyond.