Horton hears from more than a few
The roles were reversed on Friday, April 13th.
Instead of Mr. Horton greeting the students, Mr. Horton was instead greeted by a crowd of appreciative Cotter students and staff.
The Cotter family gathered in the junior high foyer on Friday morning to share its appreciation for all of Mr. Horton’s service to Cotter.
Mr. Horton can always be found in the junior high during the mornings greeting students and teachers.
The event was organized by Cotter teacher Mr. Eric Paulsen.
“Mr. Horton is a great example of kindness, respect, work ethic and faith in action. Each day he greets all of us with a smile and a sense of community. Even on the gloomiest or most stressful of days I can look forward to his kind smile and gentle wisdom. Anyone who walks through the Roger Bacon doors in the morning receives that gift which is a great start to the day,” Mr. Paulsen said.
Mr. Paulsen came up with the idea to thank Mr. Horton for all of his service to Cotter, and he passed the idea along to other teachers, and all of the teachers loved the idea.
“In the Cotter Family everyone is more than willing to support these types of events. I am not a very good organizer so I relied on some advice and help from my friends Mrs. and Mr. Forney, Mrs. Fitch and Sr. Judy, as well as the junior high staff. Mr. Meurer and Mrs. Koopman really stepped forward with decorations and of course our amazing Cotter Band. At the final moments I asked some awesome 8th graders if they were up for decorating and setting up the party and they did a super job,” Mr. Paulsen said.
Mr. Paulsen describes seeing Mr. Horton’s face when he saw the surprise as his favorite moment of the event.
“If anyone else saw that look they would agree with me that it went exactly as planned,” Mr. Paulsen said.
Mr. Paulsen sees the appreciation event as a reminder for the importance of kindness and respect.
“Acts of kindness and moments where we honor those we love are happening around here all the time. Don’t believe for a second that we at Cotter don’t see you, hear you, or care for you. We can all do little things like this to reaffirm our commitment to each other, to our school, to our world. We can change the world through love, just like Mr. Horton has!”
