Waco High School – That… Which Matters Most

Tra’Paul

The third of five for the class of 2025: Tra’Paul.

Tra’Paul really challenged me as a teacher. But as you will see, we definitely formed a bond. I have more pictures of him, by far, than any other student. Why? Because of that bond. He challenged me and I tried to challenge him. And whenever we went anywhere, he was with me. He walked besides me. He would take my arm as we went down the hallway. He was never more than 35 to 85 feet from me (hyperbole), unless of course, I was looking for him. Which isn’t bad, inside the confines of Waco High School. But when when we were at Magnolia on a field trip? Or the mall? Or the train station?

But then, why was I worried? It was Tra’Paul. He wasn’t going to break anything, even though he wanted to touch everything. He was and is curious.

The real break through for me, was during his junior year. He did something out of line in the classroom, and I took him out into the hall to talk to him. AS I was reading him the riot act, he suddenly reached up and took my glasses off my face. I was speechless. I really thought he was going to twist my glasses into a pretzel.

I got my glass back and told him, “DON’T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!”

So he didn’t.

He took both his hands and put them on my face. What? I thought he was about to hit me or something.

At this point, I was so angry at him, I had no idea what to do. So I called for behavior to come and deal with him.

I made sure to tell his sister, Shay, when she picked him up that afternoon. In fact, I may have called her to come and get him early. I told her what happened and that he had grabbed my face.

She said, “Mr. Hammons, he wasn’t going to hurt you. He was trying to make you smile.”

What?!? Make me smile? I was speechless and… humbled. This young man was more concerned with the fact that I wasn’t happy than anything else. Did I say I was humbled? My heart broke.

OK… That’s Tra’Paul. Yes, I get teary eyed, every time I think about it.

From that point on… I really began to understand. Tra’Paul is like a happy 5-year-old in a linebacker’s body. I had seen glimpses of this before, like the time I played an episode of Sid The Science Kid for the class. Tra’Paul was up, dancing and singing along with the entire show. In fact, he had the show memorized. We all laughed and he sang away.

After that one bit of information from Shay, I never really had any trouble with Tra’Paul again. Sure, he would wander off. He would try to beat the other kids to lunch. He would take his time whenever we were in a hurry. (I called it Tra’Paul time). But it was OK. That was Tra’Paul.

Because we had formed such a bond, I was asked to walk with him during graduation. We were not sure if he would get up and begin to walk around as we waited for his line of students to go up to the stage. I know I wanted to get up and walk around. Maybe that is the real reason they asked me to watch him. He wouldn’t let me do that.

So we sat together on the field. We walked together in the line. He waved at everyone that waved at him. He was so joyful going across the stage that I got so caught up in that when the administration told him congratulations, I said “thank you” as well.

After we got off the stage, his mother asked that I escort him back to her, so they could leave early.

“No Hammons!”

Tra’Paul was having none of it. He knew that graduation wasn’t over until he got to throw his hat. So we sat back down, waiting for the rest of the 800 other students to cross the stage. Did I say there were more than 800 students?

Finally, that moment came. He threw his hat. Then we had to wait until the school song was finished. And then… he still didn’t want to leave. He was soaking up every minute.

The only reason he left was that his sister came down onto the field and escorted him out. What a wonderful evening.

Enjoy the pictures, especially the graduation pics.

If you would like to see my post on Tonsie, click here.

If you would like to see my post on Jorge, click here.

I have two more posts to go: Austin’s and Isaiah’s.

My favorite picture from the night.

After crossing the stage.

With Tonsie. They went to the prom together.

Our walk to Benny ‘n Beaus. Anthony, Antianna, and Miranda graduated last year, class of 2024.

We got caught in a rain shower on the bridge over the Brazos.

As I said, he loved to touch everything, and try on some clothes. This was on a field trip to the mall.

Notice the railroad sign? So did he. He wanted to wait there until the train came by. It did about 30 minutes later.

The train finally came by, and we watched it from the top of the WACO ISD parking garage.

On the bridge over the Brazos.

Photobomb!

No, we did nog go inside to eat.

Our first trip to Bitty ‘n Beaus.

Never too old for the slide!

Leaving his mark!

The day we took the Amtrak train from Temple to McGregor.

When Tra’Paul works, he really works hard.

We decided to plant a garden in the courtyard and had to move some pavers in order to do so. Once he got the idea that they needed to be moved, he moved just about all of them.

Sadly, the courtyard had no water hose. Not a single seed came to fruition.

A pep rally for classmate Fidencio, who was on the district champion soccer team.

This was another project that Tra’Paul loved. We decided to paint murals on the walls, since we had no windows, and the walls were institutional white. Once we taught Tra’Paul what to do… he kept right on going.

I can remember saying, “Tra’Paul, put your brush down. No more painting. Your mother is here to pick you up.”

He didn’t want to leave.

Tonsie, Tonsie, Tonsie!

One of the things about my job as a teacher at Waco High School that I really love, is that I get to keep the same students for their entire time they are in high school. This means I really get to know them, watch them grow and learn. And I also share in the struggles they deal with.

This is one of the reason’s Tonsie became so special as a student. I had the opportunity of walking with her through some of the hardest days of her life, after she lost her Granny in the summer of 2023. Her Granny was actually raising her when she suddenly died. It was a shock to the entire family, and really hit Tonsie hard. The Bible says, weep with those who weep, and we wept a lot during that time.

But we also laughed a lot as well. When she would come through the door every morning, I would say, “Tonsie, Tonsie, Tonsie!” She knew it was my special name for her. There were even times I would tell her, “Tonsie, you are my favorite student.”

She would say, “Mr. Hammons, be quiet. You’re not supposed to have favorites.”

“Well, I guess I’m breaking the rules.”

Whenever another student heard me say that, they would say: “I thought I was your favorite.” To which I was read: “No, you’re the one I like the most!”

One of the other areas that she showed maturity was the fact that she learned not to get caught up in all the high-school drama that goes on between students. She would remember that she didn’t have to be a part of it, and wouldn’t get involved. In a class like mine, this was huge. Drama is always waiting around the corner to disrupt things, and the more students I could teach to avoid it, the better.

Needless to say, I’m proud of Tonsie for her accomplishments. She is growing into a fine young woman.

The following is my gift to her. This will probably be my longest post ever, for below, I have pictures going all the way back to her sophomore year, when she first came to my class.

Here she is with her Auntie Shawtay.

Tra’Paul and Tonsie went to the senior prom together.

On one of our many field trips. We were intending to go to the zoo that day, but it rained, so we went to Bitty & Beau’s for drinks and pastries.

When we finally did make it to the zoo.

Getting ready for her senior picture.

Tra’Paul made a big poster inviting her to the senior prom.

This was at Magnolia. Many drive many miles to visit Magnolia. We took the city bus and had a blast.

Three of my five graduates this year: Jorge, Isaiah, and Tonsie.

Our first field trip back in January 2023. We went to Kristi’s Burgers on the east side of town, and then to a museum.

Ms. Griffin and Tonsie.

We were on a long walk through downtown, headed to our first trip to Bitty N’ Beaus. This is Tonsie with classmate and friend Antianna.

Same trip.

One of the few pictures I have of Anthony (Class of 2024) and Tonsie together. He was one of the original students when I took over the class in in the fall of 2022, with Tonsie, and others.

Pig-Out Day! We took a trip to Golden Corral. No one came away hungry!!!

This is the first of two pictures that hit me emotionally. These five, without Antianna, were all in my original class. They’ve all graduated. Yes, I miss them all. From left to right: Anthony (’24), Fidencio (’23), Jorge (’25), Miranda (’24), and Tonsie below.

This is the second group picture that reminded me of all who have graduated. Tra’Paul (’25) is added, Antianna and Anthony are missing.

Another one…

At the Mayborn Museum.

We decided to walk over to Dairy Queen for some ice cream.

Taken from our wall project, which was to paint as much of the walls as we could, since they were all white, cinder block walls. We did what we could to brighten up the room since it had no windows.

Chuy! Waco High School Graduating Class of 2021

When he walks down the hall, he does so in his own time. We called it Chuy speed. He was always at the back of the group whenever we went to get breakfast, go to our next class, or go to Physical Education. Chuy is happy on his own time.

When we discussed the meaning of the word “popular” in class, I held up Chuy as my example. It was an easy example. Nearly everyone knows Chuy, As we made our way through the halls of Waco High School he was always greeted him like an old friend with
smiles, fist bumps, high fives, and even hugs.

I was honored to sit with him during graduation and go with him up to the stage. Yes, we did so at Chuy speed, and yes, every five to ten feet we walked, someone from the crowd would shout congratulations to him. He beamed from ear to ear. We beamed from ear to ear. I think I was as happy for him as he was happy. I realized what a special moment this was for me. I got to reap the benefits of all the teachers that poured their lives into Chuy’s education over the last 12 years. I think the ancient book talks about how some get to sow, others reap. I was reaping the joy of their accomplishments, along with Chuy.

After the celebration, I waited with Chuy in the crowd of other graduates waiting for his family to find us. His aunt found us first, and I introduced myself.

“Hello, my name is Timothy. I’m Chuy’s teacher, and he is my student.”

Chuy and I immediately looked at each other, and we realized, it was no longer true.

“Well, I used to be his teacher, and he used to be my student. Now we are just friends.”

We both laughed at the new realization.

I hope you can see how special Chuy is. He is a solid young man, who made his way through 12 years of education at Chuy speed, and graduated from Waco High School Class of 2021!