SEVENTH GRADER GETS THE ROYAL TREATMENT
Baroody Mentioned in Letter from the Queen

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Peterson 7th grader Joseph Baroody was fascinated by stories of England and the royal family as told by a popular substitute teacher, Jeanette Lane.  The Wales native and longtime Kerrville resident happily answers questions about her homeland if posed by students drawn by her obvious English accent.  One such question was answered when Baroody asked Lane whether she thought the Queen of England would answer him if he wrote to her.  Lane felt confident that Baroody would receive a response and encouraged him to correspond with The Queen.

Weeks passed, but the next time Lane was subbing on campus and saw Baroody she asked whether or not he’d finally written The Queen.  Baroody answered her honestly, saying that he’d been discouraged by someone who told him it was a waste of time.  So determined to help Baroody, Lane initiated a letter on his behalf.

In late March, Lane received a thick, white envelope stamped with the royal postmark from Buckingham Palace.  She instinctively knew it must be for Joseph.  She headed to his school and with staff present, opened the envelop to find a letter dated March 20th mentioning Baroody.  Lane tearfully read him the letter and presented him with contents of the package which included 8x10 photos of The Queen, travel literature from England, and leaflets from Buckingham Palace.  The letter read:

Dear Mrs. Lane,

“The Queen wishes me to thank you for your letter in which you tell Her Majesty about one of your pupils, Joseph Baroody, who wanted to write to The Queen but had been discouraged to so….As I am sure you will realize, Her Majesty receives an overwhelming number of letters every day, and, as a result, it is not possible for her to reply to each one personally and neither does The Queen initiate correspondence.  Her Majesty thought it was kind of Joseph to wish to write to her, however, and I enclose some information leaflets which you may like to give to him.  I am to thank you once again for writing as you did.” 

Yours sincerely,
Mary Hamilton
Lady-in-Waiting

Said Lane, “I simply wanted to help this student follow his dreams.  When I learned that he’d never sent his letter to the Queen I thought I’d do it for him.  I was happy to contact Her Majesty on his behalf and delighted to receive the packet.  Without opening it, I knew if had to have something to do with my letter for Joseph.  I called the school and asked if I could deliver it to him in person.”  The huge smile on Baroody’s face and moment of speechlessness as she read him the letter and they both thumbed through all the contents was all Lane needed to know her efforts had paid off. 

In KISD, there is no substitute for helping a child realize his or her dream and this substitute proved that dreams really do come true!