Singapore.
These are two of the best student artifacts I’ve ever seen,
both by students at the Stamford American International School.
The first one is a letter written by third grade Carlotta,
the day after she saw Phil and I perform. Here’s a transcript:
“From when I was little I started writing before even biting my food.
I loved writing before I understood that I was no good at it.
I was told by my mother that followed my father and then the giggles of my brother.
After that I stood up and thought about writing again.
At school I was a fool to think I would sink because of my madness.
Until I saw Philip Kay [sic] followed by Sara Kay [sic] I decided
I would put some flare so it would be good to share.
I hope you liked it Sara. I hope you enjoyed it Phil.
But this is only a try before I start to fly.”
The second one was not addressed to me. I spotted it tacked
to the wall in a fourth grade classroom. The text reads as follows:
“A rubber ducks [sic] are fun to play with. A lot of kids love
to play with rubber ducks in the bathtub. Rubber ducks are
made out of rubber and even some adults play with rubber ducks
in the bathtub. You might be wondering what does a rubber ducky
look like. I will tell you what they look like. Rubber ducks have yellow skin and——”
The rest of the text is obscured by images of large rubber ducks
taped on the paper. Until the end:
“This is my sorry for losing my homework.”
I was overjoyed by this discovery and asked the teacher whether
this student had been told to write an essay on a topic of his
choosing as penance for losing his homework. The teacher told me
that she had done nothing of the sort. This boy had come up with
the assignment on his own, feeling it was a fitting substitute for
his lost homework packet. Utterly brilliant.