Teaching in a Pandemic: The Birthday Party

This article was written by James Treuthardt. He is a 6th grade science teacher at Uplift Luna Middle School and leads the Students Expanding American Literacy (SEAL) board of directors.

It is hard to handle losing a family member. I still remember vividly the first time I lost a family member in the 4th grade. It was my grandfather and the year after that it was my grandmother. We went to the funeral, but the loss of two people who could’ve been huge influences in my life still exists. I could not imagine losing a family member and having to attend their funeral on my birthday, but that’s exactly what one of my students had to do this year.

I received a message from our school counselor with an idea that once he returns, we should throw a birthday party for him, and celebrate the day he missed. It’s times like these I am so grateful for support staff and the many ideas they have to support students. Together, we purchased our pandemic birthday cake (individually wrapped honey buns) and our pandemic drink (individually bottled water bottles) to throw him his own, slightly delayed birthday party.

As we sat around in our seats, honey buns and water bottles in hands, singing happy birthday as a class for him, I saw him crack the widest smile I had seen from him in weeks. I’m not naïve enough to think that a bunch of water bottles, or honey buns, or a confidently, yet poorly sung rendition of happy birthday can help overcome the loss of someone important to you. But I do like to think that even through all the loss of this year, we have created a community where someone can feel safe, loved, and appreciated just for living through it all.