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Newbie
Total Posts: 6
Joined 2006-04-03
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Dear BLA Parents,
Some years ago (I believe fifth-grade) my eldest son really lost interest in ELA--and reading--but had been a voracious reader. It’s been a long road, that is until this past September when he got Mr. Lawton’s ELA class. I saw the reading list for the year and I was dreading the ‘homework wars’ I expected would follow. The first few weeks were great; I expected they’d soon end. Then the weeks turned into months. I heard nothing but positive comment after positive comment how this “Mr. Lawton makes literature come alive.” Yeah… the honeymoon would be over soon, I was sure of it. For whatever reason it’s been my eldest’s best year of school since K2 ended. Late fall I began to breathe easier when I was informed that my son was, “...really was lucky to have had Mr. Howard for two years in a row for History, but Mr. Lawton is even more cool than Mr. Howard.” Fast forward to Wednesday afternoon when Mr. Lawton took a band of ~20 BLA students to the Commons to sing Christmas carols. My entire family decided to go because we felt we had to see what exactly what this teacher does to motivate so many to ‘serve’. Chilling temperatures and sporadic sunshine damped no one’s enthusiasm. He provided song sheets and enough spirit to get those around us singing and humming along. After at least 90 minutes of nonstop caroling and suggestions to ‘head home’ his broad smile appeared and he’d say, “OK, just a couple more,” and the singing would continue. My family and I were the first to depart home, and while we walked away listening to the “BLA Carolers” we realized how very lucky we are that our sons are being educated at Boston Latin Academy. Mr. Lawton is just one more “gem in the crown” that we all too often take for granted. If you haven’t taken the time to volunteer helping out at these sorts of after-school gatherings, you really should try it. It will do your heart so much good. Spend 30 minutes with these kids and their teachers--yes, they’re smart (and sometimes a bit cocky?) but when they warm up they’re really fun and VERY respectful. (Let me just say that the kids who went carolling on Wednesday represented their school AND their families in the best light possible; if I had their names I would list them in here, but I don’t--but they were all marvelous!) I just thought I’d mention in here that Mr. Lawton really outdid himself on Christmas Wednesday and that his ‘fan club’ is a strong group. Happy New Year, everyone!
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