4 Minutes and 36 Seconds.

That was the length of the phone call I just received. And that was all of the time it took to erase all of the trepidation, exhaustion, and regret of the past 3+ years of teaching.

Dre'Kwon's mother called me to thank me for changing his life.

You may remember Dre'Kwon from here or here. Needless to say he is a character and was easily one of my more challenging and exciting students. Anyway, Dre'Kwon's mother told me that when he was held back in third grade two years ago, she was certain he would end up in jail. He had been involved in fights, had failed all of his academic subjects, and had been suspended too many times to count. Then he was in my class and all that changed (albeit, not immediately) and she told me that now he's an honor student.

She had gotten a letter in the mail at the beginning of the school year, saying that Dre'Kwon had gotten top scores on the MSA (the big standardized test). She told me she got a letter today that said that Dre'Kwon is now categorically "gifted" after further testing. She told me that I believed in him before even she did and that she would never make that mistake again.

When I spoke to Dre'Kwon he told me the first person he thought of when he saw the letter was me. Then he started to cry. And then I couldn't stop crying. (I still haven't).

At the end of our conversation, Dre'Kwon's mother told me that I not only made him a better student, but had made her a better mother. She actually said "you was the best teacher he ever had. And, you was the best teacher I ever had."

Seriously. I'm a wreck right now.