Mrs. Thompson had seen Teddy in the halls for several years before he became a fifth grader. She was not looking forward to having him in her class. She had a rather large class and dozens of papers to grade every day. The last thing she needed was another under achiever who needed extra help and rewarded her diligence with bad behavior. He didn’t try very hard and often showed up to class looking messy, hair uncombed and clothes not clean

But the school year began and she tried to make the best of it and give Teddy a fair chance before judging him too harshly.

Then came Christmas. All the students got Mrs. Thompson gifts wrapped in colorful wrapping paper with beautiful bows and ribbons. But when it came time for Teddy to give Mrs. Thompson her gift he carried forward a small package wrapped in paper from a…