Worry? NOT!

Well, it happened again. My youngest daughter has her 3rd grade assignment for fall. She has the teacher that many parents have gossiped about as being "horrible, unorganized, mean, a yeller, etc. etc." to the point of ad nauseum! (this happens every year: gossip about new teachers, young teachers, old teachers, etc.) Mind you, only one of these 5 parents I have heard griping, have ever actually had a child in her class. Not one of them to my knowledge has even gone in to observe her classroom. The last day of school I happened to be volunteering in Claire's 2nd grade classroom as I was room parent all year. Had to perform the last day stuff: teacher gifts, class writing project to surprise the teacher, etc. While I was there, I had the opportunity to observe the 3rd grade teachers in action. (I observed 2 out of the 3 since my oldest had had the 3rd and I already knew her). I went into the room where Claire will be next year and it was wonderful! The teacher is a bit "strict" meaning she has specific rules she expects the 3rd graders to follow. (yeah! A teacher who makes rules and expects kids to follow them. A teacher who has consequences!) She has the exact same curriculum as the other 2 teachers as per required by our district. She has the same supply list. She had a very organized, neat room and a really cute, cozy reading corner for independant readers. Attractive posters were on the walls along with written and art works. She appeared very nurturing and was laughing along with her students as they were relating a funny story that happened in the room while she had been at the 6th grade graduation. (she had no idea I was observing from the doorway at this point, as her back was to the door). I saw positive exchanges. I spoke with 2 parents whose children had her this past year. One parent is a teacher in another district. The other one is a stay at home mom. They both loved her and said their children (one is average, the other is in the gifted program) had a positive learning experience and gained many skills. My daughter and some of her friends, who were in the room right across the hall from her all year, said they have never heard her yell but they said "she is sometimes loud like Mrs. P" (I had to laugh; Mrs P is retiring and is known by many to be one of our very best teachers)
Am I worried? Not at all. You see, the Lord knows exactly what and whom my daughter needs for 3rd grade. And listening to rumors and gossip is not edifying to our souls or spirits. It gets us stirred up and anxious and the Bible tells us to be anxious about nothing, instead casting your cares on Him! So.....we are thankful to be in a district that welcomes parents to come and observe and ask questions. We are thankful that we can be the ones to set an example for others. And we are most thankful that Claire had her own answer to prayer: her "best school friend" is in her same class! (actually there are 5 girls she is good friends with in her new class). Worry and fret? No way!