moments that make all the difference

My school is in NYC in between Harlem and the trendy area of the upper west side. I know that a lot of my students don't have much money, so while we were doing a Van Gogh project (using the 'rythm-ong', and the books "Starry Night" and "Camille and the Sunflowers") I told them about the exihibits at MOMA (the Museum of Modern Art) and how on Fridays, if they could get someone to take them, they could pay whatever they wanted. And since they're kids, they could give a quarter and no one would even look at them funny.

This morning as I was bringing a class inside, I was behind one of my third grade students as her mom dropped her off at the door. She turned to me and said, "Thank you so much. Hallie is so excited about the VanGogh project you've been doing with them that she asked me to take her to the exhibit at MOMA and we're going tonight. Thanks!"

And I thought, this is one of the reasons I moved to New York. Sometimes I think they might get sick of me telling them how lucky they are to be near so much great art, but you should see their faces when I tell them exactly where it is and which train to take to get there.

Happy Friday everyone!
Paulette