As a teacher, I am always looking for different rewards for my students to encourage them to do homework, pay attention in class, etc. Because our school is so close to Ristuccia Arena, I decided to offer a trip to Bruins practice as an incentive (after turning my students into Bruins and hockey fans).
After doing their homework for 30 days straight, I packed up my class and took them to practice.
Shawn took the time to skate over to the glass and say, "Aren't you boys supposed to be in school?"
Their reactions were priceless. They stood their just shaking their heads with mouths open. The ride back to school was filled with repeated exclamations of Thornton being their favorite player now and that he spoke to them. That simple act made their week and solidified their appreciation for him as a player.
Several weeks later, my students had once again reached a milestone in doing their homework, and the Bruins had a practice during a break between the Flyers series and the beginning of the Lightning series, so I packed them up again and went to Ristuccia. This time, Thornton skated over to them again and asked them basically the same thing.
Of course, they were a little more prepared and had an answer for him: "This is school!"
They were absolutely convinced that he remembered them and were so thrilled that he noticed them again. After practice, I let them wait around as long as I could to see if any of the players would come their way. We watched a few of them come out and drive away, avoiding our little group. Thornton came out with [goalie Tuukka] Rask, got in his car, and chose to drive toward us. He stopped and signed for all of my students. It made my day to see him take the time for them, and needless to say, it made their day. It was the highlight of the year.
I still am so grateful for his making it a point to notice my students and give them a little bit of his time.
