Today was the last day of standardized testing 

Today the students walked in with smiles 

Superhero stickers were placed on their desk with this reminder: 

You are a superhero in this world

You can do anything you put your mind to

You have the heart of a superhero

Superhuman powers of withstanding a system filled with injustices

Superhuman powers of smiling when it may take three hours to take a single test

Superhuman powers when you are asked to sit at a desk without moving

Someone having to take you to the restroom only with permission

Superhuman because when it was all over

you congratulated each other on a job well done

and breathed a sigh of relief

Because you realized that you have not simply been a superhero the past two weeks

but every single day you entered into my third grade classroom and chose to

do your best

and push through

and make goals for yourself

and learn to be kind

and find passion in everything we do

The real superheroes are the ones that realize

paper and pencil don't make superheroes

strong hearts make superheroes

mistakes make superheroes

learning differences make superheroes

and I hope you continue to make mistakes and

climb mountains

and love one another because

the world needs more superheros

like you