Nathan

Happy Birthday to Nathan.

One reason Nathan holds a special spot in my heart is that I can remember this little blonde speck of a kid knowing my name from the time he was in kindergarten. He would yell, "Hi, Mr. Carter!" and I would say back, "Hey there, Mr. Rodgers!" At that time, I didn't know exactly what his name was, but I did know that he was the little brother of a student of mine. I felt so old this year when I had him in class at last, and especially so now that he is going off to Clay.

Nathan is passionate, spirited, and has a great heart. On my refrigerator, I still have a note that he sent me in the mail to my house last fall. It says:

Dear Mr. Carter,

Thank you for being my teacher and helping me. Thanks for reading T.G.F. and 2MM* because they are funny and interesting. Thanks for getting me motivated for tests and answering my questions. 

-Nathan

He would not have wanted me to put that on the blog during the school year, but now that he's been out for more than two months, I get to brag on him all I want.

I loved watching how excited he would get when the Word of the Day from a month ago would pop up in something he was reading. He remembered the stuff I taught in such a way that it gave me hope that someone out there was listening. This tendency is going to serve him incredibly well as he goes throughout the rest of his schooling. He has the heart of a boy while having the brain of a graduate student, and you can't ask for more than that.

Nathan and I both got the shaft this year when it came to our birthdays being on the morning announcements. Neither of us were mentioned in the summer birthdays. Well, kiddo, I hope this does a little bit to make you feel better. I'm pretty sure you have received the longest birthday post out of all of them.

Nathan marks the last of the 2016-2017 birthdays, which is a little sad for me. But what is sad for me is very happy for all of you, so I'm not going to be a downer.

Happy Birthday, Nathan! You definitely have it coming, buddy.


*Two-Minute Mysteries...those didn't last all that long this past year, actually.