The Teacher Who Puts Smiles on Her Students’ Faces: Iman Al-Areibi
Translator: Hanne Türkmen
It is guaranteed by a hadith that smiling is charity. What about making someone else smile? Of course, putting a smile on someone’s face is as good as smiling yourself. Let us introduce you to the teacher who wrote a letter for each of her 80 students, Iman Al-Areibi.
The students of Ontario, Canada had to enter 2022 in quarantine, apart from their schools because of the pandemic resolutions. Iman al-Areibi is a teacher in H. B. Beal Secondary School in the city of London and she wanted to show her students that someone cares about them in these times. Choosing an unusual way, she wrote and sent letters to each of her 80 students.
Al-Areibi states that she wanted to make her students smile through these hard times by saying “The pandemic made our students feel more and more lonely and anxious by ripping the friendship bonds they had. I wanted to let them know everything was going to be all right. I could tell how they would feel when they received their specialized letters.”
Meredith Lewkowitz is a student of Areibi and she thanks her teacher for the letter as it showed them how much they were cared for. This was the letter Lewkowitz received:
“Dear Meredith, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you for an amazing year so far. Thank you for your hard work and contributions to our class and school community. Thank you for being you! Wishing you a wonderful and safe year ahead full of self-care, success, and endless opportunities. You come first, always! I look forward to seeing you soon.”
Araibi says a lot of her students replied with e-mails. She keeps making her students smile to this day as she waits to apply her activity plans as the quarantine ends in the country.
This article was originally written in Turkish. Click to read it! Öğrencilerinin Yüzünde Tebessüm Oluşturan Öğretmen: Iman Al-Areibi
University student. She likes to read books, see new places and try different flavors.
