What We did For Teachers’ Day

“Close the door and turn off the lights. Teacher Jen is coming. She’s on her way up now,” Tristan said, as he hurriedly entered the classroom, half-dragging his bag on the floor as he crouched and crawled just to make sure he won’t be seen when Teacher Jen passes by the window.

We had been waiting for her since 6:30 that morning with a cake, some balloons and flowers. We also had some food prepared on the table.

When we were still planning for that day, we couldn’t be more excited about the thought of her entering the door, clueless to what she would find and us shouting “Happy Teachers’ Day” while throwing some confetti in the air.

Teacher Jen is the strictest teacher I know. While other students dislike her, my classmates and I adore her. She cares about us so much and we can feel it. Almost every day, she checks our fingernails if they’re properly trimmed.

She also checks our ears and reminds us to clean them regularly. She tells the girls to comb their hair and the boys to tuck their shirt in. These are the things that most of our parents are too busy to notice, that’s why we love Teacher Jen even more.

As soon as Teacher Jen entered the classroom, my classmates started singing “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!” I got confused. Some of them gave her flowers and also wished her a happy birthday. I laughed awkwardly. “What’s going on? Shouldn’t we be greeting her a Happy Teachers’ Day?” I asked Jackson who was beside me.

“Teacher Jen’s birthday is Teachers’ Day.” Andrea explained. I was still trying to process my disbelief of why I had no idea when three ladies walked in.

One introduced herself as a manicurist, another one was a hair stylist and the other one a masseuse. “Hello Ma’am, we’ve been hired by your students to pamper you on this double special day.” The tallest one explained.

“Thank you very much, children, but I have classes to attend to. These kind ladies will have to wait until the last period.” Teacher Jen expressed her gratitude.

“No, Ma’am. They’ve also hired student teachers to facilitate the classes you’ll miss. They’ve got the materials ready so you don’t need to worry about a thing.”

While Teacher Jen was being pampered, we made ourselves busy making greeting cards for our other subject teachers who were also very happy to receive them.

“Class, I am so happy and thankful for what you have done. This is the most memorable Teachers’ Day I’ve had.” Teacher Jen gave all of us a hug.