"Once you are my kid, you are always my kid."
Two years ago, Longs Creek Elementary School teacher Mindy Arriaga’s life changed. She was a kindergarten teacher, and Brady Reilly was in her class. His life changed, too. Because he gained more than knowledge that year, he gained an advocate and a friend.
Brady has something called 22q. It can affect any system in the body, and most children with 22q have heart, immune, learning and speech difficulties. Arriaga had never heard of 22q until Brady entered her class.
“Because it was something new and I support him, I started researching stuff to better serve him in the classroom,” said Arriaga. “I definitely stepped out of my role as teacher and became an advocate for him and 22q.”
She spent time learning about 22q, researching new learning strategies and getting as much information from his family as possible to help Brady be successful. Brady’s grandmother was even her room mom, so they worked together on his success.
Brady and Arriaga worked for weeks to help Brady learn how to write his name. He didn’t give up. He learned how to write his name. While Arriaga was teaching Brady, he was teaching her. He was teaching her about perseverance, grit and not giving up no matter the odds.
Brady moved on to first grade, but Arriaga was all in. Her relationship with Brady and his family wasn’t finished at the end of the school year. Brady is now in second grade, and his relationship with Arriaga is as strong as ever. She currently volunteers at a 22q camp at Morgan’s Wonderland, where Brady has a cabin named after him. For Arriaga, her connections with her students do not end at the school bell; they are lifetime relationships that matter.
“Every day, I come in and want to be the teacher I want my child to have. I want my child to have a teacher who genuinely knows them,” said Arriaga. “I have former students who are now at MacArthur, and they are still sending me emails excited they passed a certain class or something. Once you are my kid, you are always my kid. I am like a proud parent. And seeing Brady’s success now in second grade--it’s amazing. He’s my little guy.”
