Meet Key'Van
Spending 9 hours a day, 5 days a week with someone really helps you get to know them well. We are honored to get to live life with and know some really cool little humans and we're excited to introduce them to you!
Up next, Key'Van:
From the Grown-Ups
One word that describes Key'Van:
Kalie: Exuberant. Key'van would run all day long if he were given permission to, his energy is off the charts. He sings with passion, he plays hard, and he is the silliest guy I know.
Meredith: Bouncy. If we would let Key'Van hop to lunch in the hallway he would love it. Key'Van is full of life and always excited to turn ordinary moments into laughter.
Favorite Key'Van Story:
Kalie: Key'van expends so much energy during the day he can't keep his eyes open on the bus ride home. Once his eyes close, it's lights out. Waking this dude up is next to impossible. Step one is lifting him from the ocean of drool that has formed on the bus seat. Step two consists of him looking mostly like a zombie and us giving kind reminds to open his eyes while he is walking. He often gets to the bus steps to exit and just can't find the energy to finish the journey, so he sits down on the steps. Being exuberant is hard work.
Meredith: When we were in the throws of recruiting our first UCA class, Kalie and I had many awkward and discouraging days. One day when we were walking around an apartment complex we ran into Key'Van. All I could notice were his big bright brown eyes staring up at me. We asked him how old he was and when he said 5 we told him to take us to his mom. Key'Van grabbed Kalie and I both by the hand and led us to his house. After we talked to his mom he also was happy to be our neighborhood tour guide holding our hands again to introduce us to more 5 year old friends. It's amazing how a 5 year old can make you feel special and welcom. Key'Van did that for us.
What makes Key'Van so special:
Kalie: Key'Van's passion for life is fun to experience. He is generous with his hugs, zealous with his encouragement and always eager to make someone smile. We had to make a rule in our classroom that if you want to tell a friend good job by giving them a thumbs up you have to keep your elbow touching your body. Key'Van is the root reason this rule exists. His excitement to encourage his friends causes him to forcefully thrust his thumbs up into his friend's face and he is unaware of who he is knocking over as he eagerly celebrates his friend's success. I love his energy and how is is quick to use it for the benifit of others.
Meredith: While many of the kids struggled at first with celebrating the victories of others even when they didn't get a reward, Key'Van has always been genuinely happy to tell his friends good job and show them a thumbs up. He is happy when he sees others happy. He loves to celebrate with his friends.
Our favorite Key'Van trait:
The boy loves to sing. It is not uncommon to hear him burst into the melody of "Let it go" at the top of his lungs on the bus as he leads the class in anthem.
What Key'Van had to say about himself:
Favorite song:
"Who Let the Letters Out?" (It's a pretty good song. You can check it out here.)
Favorite color:
"Blue"
Favorite thing about school:
"Calendar time when we learn about the months of the year, the days of the week, and the date. And we learn about the weather man and the weather man looks at the window and tells the class the weather like if it's sunny or windy or cloudy or foggy or even snowy." Favorite thing I’ve learned this year:
"I love learning the letter sounds."
What I have learned about God:
"God loves us and gives us compassion because He is kind to us. God saved us from the fire and He called the fire trucks and Jesus drove the fire truck, I think. God helps us so we don’t have to have training wheels and God is powerful and God is good and God is love. This is how He love the world that He gave His one and only Son that everyone who believes in Him won’t die but have eternal life. John 3:16. God watches over the paths of the righteous but the path of the wicked leads to destruction. For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth Genesis 1:1. The heavens declare the glory of God the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Psalm 19:1. Oh and Adam and Eve! God said don’t eat the fruit then the snake come by and the snake said, “God is lying” but then Adam and Eve ate the fruit and had to start dying and they started being mean to each other and they weren’t having compassion. And God had a friend…kalash and elliot? no…uhh…God had a friend with a boat. The people wasn’t listening to God and then God felt sad. So the rains came down and it was a storm but God’s friend got to get on the boat so God could save everybody. Then there was a rainbow with colors and God made that rainbow so God’s friends could feel better and be happy.
What I want every one to know about me:
"Everybody is kind to me and that makes me happy. I like pizza and bikes and I want to be a hockey player and a football player and a soccer player and I wanna be a police man."
What are you awesome at:
"Hockey and basketball and football and even being a ninja"
