The little boy named Leon hadn’t been very good,
Doing things when he shouldn’t, not doing them when he should.
He looked around the classroom, not wanting to be there;
The second grade was tough, he thought, as he squirmed in his chair.
Miss Frech walked into the room, on her face a nervous smile,
She was there to learn, assist the teacher for a while.
The teacher was a good one, full of knowledge, sense, and love,
The perfect combination to do the job she does.
Miss Frech watched the children, she watched them work and play,
Her heart went out to them in a very special way.
Each child had a book bag that they could call their own,
But the little boy named Leon had none and felt alone.
Miss Frech asked the teacher if it would be all right
To get Leon a book bag when she went home that night.
The teacher said okay, then they agreed to the letter
Not to give it to him till he did a little better.
The next day during recess, someone pushed Leon down;
Leon did not fight back when he got up off the ground.
When the class got back to the room, each one found their own place;
On Leon’s chair, the book bag simply lit up Leon’s face.

He was told the bag was his, for not being bad.
The little boy named Leon no more felt so sad.
He got what he had wanted, because good he had been,
A book bag like the others, to keep his things in.
Without ever knowing it, a lesson Leon learned...
That being bad brings nothing; good things you have to earn.
Miss Frech also learned that day, more than she could tell,
That teaching is not just from a book, but from the heart as well.
She had done something, without ever thinking why,
That the little boy named Leon would remember all his life.
The old man named Leon sat on a kitchen stool,
Waiting for his grandson to get ready to go to school.
He was lost in memory, back to the second grade,
When a very special gift someone to him gave.
Miss Frech never knew the result of what she did;
She had made him feel equal to all the other kids.
The little boy yelled Grandpa, then down the hall he ran,
He saw the brand new book bag right there in Leon’s hand.
That night a golden star appeared, one never seen before;
Hung by God’s hand for Miss Frech, it will shine forever more.

©1998 William Richerson


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