Last night, I attended the annual awards banquet of a county disability advocacy association. One of the award recipients was a local college professor. This man recently retired from teaching after many decades. He had to retire due to health reasons. His health is frail and he uses a wheelchair. He received an award for developing a program that makes it possible for people with developmental disabilities to attend the college with the goal that they will graduate. Several people with developmental disabilities have received degrees thanks to the program developed by this professor.
Near the end of his acceptance speech, the professor mentioned that one of the things he is doing in retirement is studying Spanish. When he mentioned this, a young man with Down Syndrome came up and hugged the professor. The professor mentioned that this young man was a student of his and that this young man now serves as the professor's Spanish teacher! The young man that gave a short speech, in Spanish, about how great this professor is (I sat next to a person that is fluent in Spanish).
Every teacher is a student and every student is a teacher.
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