Mrs. Roivas' Box by K. H. Ohannessian


			by K. H. Ohannessian rs. Roivas teaches kindergarten at St. Jude's School for Children in Rhode Island. Although she has taught for a decade, she is still shocked when a child misbehaves. Mrs. Roivas watches Max pull on one of Alexis' pigtails. The girl snaps at the pudgy nuisance, but he still does it to the other pigtail, anyway. Mrs. Roivas walks over to her assistant, Howard and whispers, "I'm going to have to discipline Max. Can you watch the class?" Howard nods. Max tugs again on Alexis' pigtail, but now the girl ignores him. Mystified, he suddenly turns to see his towering teacher behind him. Max knows he's been caught red-handed. Mrs. Roivas leans toward him and says, "Let's go outside and talk." She straightens up and tells her class, "I'm going to speak with Max now. Howard will help you with anything." Mrs. Roivas grabs Max's hand and they leave the classroom. As they walk down the hall, she asks the overwhelmed child, "Why would you do that, hurt someone smaller than you? Would you want someone bigger than you picking on you?" She tries to be personal, but stern. "No," Max whimpers. He squirms in her tight grasp.