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D-Day has arrived, you’re in labor and heading off to hospital, with bag, husband, and hospital notes in hand. But if you’re Jennifer Pope, a teacher from Texas, you’ll also have those all-important lesson plans tucked under your arm too! Yes, that’s right, the mom of soon-to-be-four wanted to make sure her work children were taken care of while she was off giving birth to baby Clara.
Photographer Andrea McDonald of Rooted in Love Photography was on hand to capture this moment in a beautiful photo she shared on Facebook, saying: “No, she is not doing her taxes. Those papers would be her lesson plans her husband is about to go drop off with her sub in the parking lot.” McDonald also reminds everybody to “Spoil them [teachers] rotten because even in labor, they care. No lie, she gave birth less than an hour later.”
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A teacher at Christian Life Preparatory School in Fort Worth, Pope is not only incredible for looking extremely calm, smiley, and just overall fabulous while in the last stages of labor, but also for her level of dedication in making sure her pupils would retain a level of continuity with their sub teacher in her absence. Pope shows us what it really is to follow a vocation, dedicating her life to serving others ― in this case 2nd graders ― but even priests get the odd day off!
Yet for Pope it’s just part of who she is: “To many ― perhaps all ― of us, this is so much more than a job. It’s an all encompassing passion,” she said, adding … “It’s who we are, fueled by a love for children. Seeing and celebrating the successes of our students is comparable to watching our own children succeed. It really is a remarkable thing.”
We’re pretty sure on Teacher Appreciation Day her pupils, and their parents, will want to spoil their teacher for being the dedicated and loving teacher these photos prove her to be, and it’s a little reminder to us all to thank our kids’ teachers for working so hard outside of the classroom on our behalf.
And today we celebrate...