He’s Only . . .

A school superintendent and an elementary school principal were conducting a review of an eighth grade teacher’s work. As they entered the classroom through the back door, they heard the teacher say to the tallest boy in the class, “Otto, would you please raise the window?” When Otto had raised the window, the teacher said in a voice all could hear, “I don’t know what I would do without Otto. He is the only one who can raise that window for me.” After they had left the classroom, the principal said to the superintendent, “I hope you noticed what a beautiful and sensitive thing that teacher did for the boy named Otto. Otto is large for his age-and very awkward. He is slow to learn and desperately needs encouragement. You see, the window really didn’t need raising. But Otto needed to raise the window. He needed recognition. And the teacher, bless her, was responding to this need.” A very simple act, a small act of…