Inside the walls of Miss Grimm’s kindergarten classroom
Little minds are hard at work.
Especially this one.
With a bow on her head and a pencil in her hand, Priscilla Perez now happily sits in her classroom.
And these hair bows are one part of the reason why.
The five-year-old student got a rough start to the school year and it all had to do with her hair.
Student Priscilla Perez says, “It was short right here and then my mom cut it.”
Teacher Shannon Grimm says, “About that time, friends started to call her a boy.”
And those words from her classmates cut deep.
Priscilla Perez says, “I would cry because I would think school was not fun.”
Priscilla would come to school in a hat and refuse to take it off.
This was an ongoing issue the entire school year.
Shannon Grimm says, “She finally came to me and said that she wanted her hair long and I asked about her hair and she said that it was short underneath her hoodie.”
But this challenge was not one Miss Grimm would back down from.
Shannon Grimm says, “So it was almost to my waistline, my hips right there.”
Over winter break, this teacher decided to cut her hair.
Shannon Grimm says, “I am going to do other things for my friends in the classroom than just teach them. I am going to show them the love and support that they need to learn.”
The new hairstyle did the trick and to top it off – literally – Miss Grimm also wears a matching bow with Priscilla every day to ensure she feels supported.
A lesson in a classroom that will stay with this little girl forever
Shannon Grimm says, “And who is beautiful?”
Priscilla Perez says, “Me.”
Shannon Grimm says, “That’s right, Priscilla. You’re right, you are very beautiful.”
Shannon Grimm has been been teaching at Meador Elementary school for two years.
