Letters to Ms. Ruiz

By Cheryl and Zoe Paley

Dear Ms. Ruiz:

I love you because you made me like school this year and I didn’t like it so much last year. You are fun and nice and when you were a little kid you were a tomboy, just like me. You showed me books that you knew I would like, like “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and “Nate the Great.” You let us have a pizza party and you let my mommy come in and have a “decorate your own cupcake” birthday party for me in class. I can’t believe I was “reader of the week” 3 times! I wish I could have you for all the grades, not just 2nd grade but I know that can’t happen. You are the best teacher ever.

Love and xoxo,
Zoe

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Dear Ms. Ruiz:

1st grade scared me. I watched my bright, inquisitive child tune out, tuning in to Hannah Montana and Zack and Cody instead. Everything became, “lame,” “boring,” and “whatever” began to take the place of “what’s next.”

We knew you from watching you in the park with your own children. I remember Zoe and I joining you, on hands and knees, as we all discovered the wonderful world of slugs and beetles, a tiny village living in the dirt near the swing set.

I knew you would be a good match for my daughter and what a match you turned out to be. You turned her around, spun her round and round each week, in exploration and adventure. Through the power of example and a pure and simple love of learning, you may have changed the course of her entire life. She reads now, on her own. She has 3 favorite authors.

3 or 4 times a year I tune in to big awards shows, with designer dresses and ribbons in solidarity of one social cause or another. Big shows with big hype and even bigger gowns. I wish they would produce one of those for teachers. You have to wonder about the priorities of a country where millions and millions of dollars in ad time are spent to sponsor events that glorify those who “play” others, while we consistently overlook the ones they play.

Ms. Ruiz, you deserve the gown and the press and while it is probably a very good thing that the paparazzi don’t follow you around, they should. Because in my house, you are a superstar.

Thank you for the best 2nd grade ever.
xoxo
Zoe’s Mom