Irrepressible

For close to thirty years, Sue taught eight-year-olds. She taught them reading, mathematics, art, writing. She taught them games. She took them outdoors and taught them worms, beetles, sweet peas, and weather. She clowned and cavorted with them and gave them ethics. A list of Rights hung in her classroom, and a copy of it hangs in her house even now:

I HAVE A RIGHT TO BE TREATED WITH KINDNESS.
I HAVE A RIGHT TO BE MYSELF IN THIS ROOM.
I HAVE A RIGHT TO BE SAFE IN THIS ROOM.
I HAVE A RIGHT TO BE HEARD IN THIS ROOM.
I HAVE A RIGHT TO LEARN ABOUT MYSELF IN THIS ROOM.

From time to time she held class meetings to refresh everyone’s commitment to these rights.  

She still lives by these principles. She grants these rights to everyone she meets, in any room where they meet. She lives in the expectation that everyone will honor these rights for each other, and most of the time, everyone does.