Mother shares son's emotional reaction after reading elementary school teacher's note

A young boy was left in tears after reading a note from his teacher. A few years ago, Instagram user Abby LaBolle, who goes by @absmarti, revealed in a post that her son, Rylan, had gotten a note from his teacher before he was about to take the ISTEP and IREAD tests, which are standardized tests for students in Indiana.

At the time, Rylan was in third grade. His mom explained that when she arrived to pick her son up from school, he told her that he had been embarrassed about crying in school. Curious as to why her young boy was upset, she learned that it was because of his teacher's letter. 

Sharing an image of the letter online, she explained, "I asked him what upset him, and he told me he cried because he was happy about a letter his teacher gave his class before they take ISTEP." In the letter, Rylan's elementary school teacher had assured him and the rest of their class that the upcoming test wouldn't determine their worth.

"The people who create these tests and score them do not know each of you like I do, and certainly not the way your families do. The scores you will get from these tests will tell you something, but they will not tell you everything. These tests do not define you. There are many ways of being smart. YOU are smart! You are enough! You are the light that brightens my day and the reason I am happy to come to work each day," the teacher wrote. "So, in the midst of all these tests, remember that there is no way to 'test' all of the amazing and awesome things that make you, YOU."

The beautiful letter was an important reminder to young students that they are worth so much more than their test scores. This would have been extremely reassuring, especially to those students who face anxiety before these stressful tests. The young boy's mother was also touched by the letter. "Needless to say, when I read it, I cried too. We need not just more teachers like her, but also more people like her in this world," she wrote.

In a recent update, she added, "I was surprised to learn that this post, which made its rounds in a very unexpected way in 2016, has recently re-emerged. Thank you so much to all of you who have shared kind words; I could not be happier about how my son’s teacher’s letter touches so many people years later. It’s an evergreen message, needed now more than ever."