Forest Hills Teacher Surprises 5-Year-Old With A Special Visit

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Five-year-old Jack was struggling with his Forest Hills elementary school's shift to remote learning at the end of March, amid the spread of the new coronavirus.

The extroverted preschooler was used to spending nearly six hours a day with his friends at P.S. 144 and his beloved teacher, Mr. Ryan. Now he was just one of 17 squares on a screen as he logged on each day for 30 minutes of story time — a much more isolating setup.

"He had a total meltdown, and he's not the meltdown kind of kid," his mother, Carole Wacey, told Patch in a phone interview.

Jack started sobbing and curled up into a ball. His parents had never seen him act like that before, Wacey told Patch. The March 24 meltdown, on the second day of remote learning, prompted her to ask Mr. Ryan if he could check in with Jack one-on-one.

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Jack immediately perked up after their one-on-one video chat the next day, Wacey recalled. Then, about two weeks later, he had another breakdown. Wacey reached out to Mr. Ryan, who asked for their address but didn't say why.

The morning of April 6, an hour before remote classes were scheduled to start, Wacey got a phone call from Mr. Ryan as she spotted a car pulling up outside the family's home. She immediately realized who it was and yelled for Jack to come to the door.

"We just ran out in our socks," Wacey said.

Mr. Ryan popped through his car's sunroof, Jack sat on his doorstep and the two started talking like they were back in the classroom. Jack and his twin brother, who's in a different class at P.S. 144, even got to show Mr. Ryan their Lego toys.

"I don't think he would be more excited to be at Disneyworld," Wacey said of Jack's reaction to the surprise. "He was giddy."

P.S. 144 Principal Reva Gluck-Schneider told Patch it didn't surprise her to learn that Mr. Ryan — real name, Ryan Ferro — had done such a thing for his student.

"Mr. Ryan driving by to see a student is exactly what anyone who knows him would expect," Gluck-Schneider told Patch.

Mr. Ryan, who referred to the visit as a "little social-distance playdate," has since started surprising other kids in Jack's class. He says sometimes the smallest things make a big difference during tough times.

"I'm just trying to make it a little easier for everybody because it's a tough time," he told Patch. "School's a family."

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