Last week, one of my grade 1 junior high school students came to me with tears in her eyes. “Mr. Allen” she said, “I don’t know where my school bag is!” “Did you forget it at home?” I asked. “No, I lost it on my way to school.”

This problem happens once in a while, but most often it is the case where a student forgets their bag on the train or on the bus. A quick phone call to the station usually solves the problem right away. Unfortunately, I knew this girl came to school by bicycle. The strap that held her bag on the back rack had snapped, and that meant her bag was somewhere on the ground between her house and school. Worst of all, her bento box was inside! Lunch is important!

But, to be honest, I was not too worried. She was worried of course, because nobody wants to start their day with a problem like this, but I knew everything would be ok. That is because many of our students ride to school on the same road at the same time of day. Also, because the students at our school would definately stop and pick it up. That is the kind of students we have.

Sure enough, 10 minutes later, I got a call that another student had found the bag, picked it up, and had left it in the school office. Feeling relieved, we went to get the bag and the name of the student who found it. My student went off to say thank you, and I went to the teachers room for the morning meeting. Another day of school was ready to begin.