My office is in the main hallway. Kindergarten, first grade, and second grade classes have to pass by to get to the gym, the nurse, and the lunch room. Third through fifth has to pass by to get to most of their specials. I love the location. I get to see and hear a lot as people come and go. Today was no exception.

“Oh! Did you lose your tooth?” I heard Roshawn, a third grade teacher, outside my door. I assumed she was talking to a kindergarten or first-grade student. The next thing I heard was, “Oh! Did you drop it? Don’t worry. We will find it.”

I popped my head out to see if I could help. I saw V, a kindergartener looking a bit bewildered. “Did you lose your tooth?” I asked as she promptly put her finger into the new hole in her smile.

By that time, Lauren, the neighboring math teacher had come into the hall. “Sometimes it’s easier to see things from this angle,” she said getting onto her hands and knees. I joined her.

A few additional teachers passing by stopped to help and our custodian came by and offered to get a dust mop. I’m sure you can imagine the scene, teachers on their hands and knees, looking for a tiny white tooth against the sparkling white floors (our custodians always make our school shine!).

That’s when our principal and assistant principal came down the hall. We quickly explained that we were all looking for V’s tooth. “This feels like a slice of life,” Jame’el, our AP said as he encouraged us to get back on the floor to look for the tooth so he could snap a picture. At our school different staff members write each day during the month of March and Jame’el’s day is coming…

Just as I got back down for this photo op, I noticed something that might be a tooth. “Is that it by Mrs. Messler’s feet?” I asked pointing toward our principal.

Sure enough it was.

V’s face lit up when I met her in the nurse’s office, with her tooth safely in a plastic bag. I returned to my office, a smile on my face thinking about how in the middle of a busy school day, a whole group of adults had stopped what they were doing to search for V’s missing tooth. It’s all in a day’s work.