Courageous and Confident Me
Storyboard Text
- Welcome Class!
-
- Welcome Class!
-
- Courageous and Confident MeBy Ellie Gordon
- “Another great day for school!” Ash had thought to themself as they sauntered through the classroom door. Eagerly sitting at their desk, they waved to their good friend, Chelsei. “Good morning Chelsei, how are you doing on this fine sunny day?” Ash had verbalized in a rather funny tone. “I’m doing super-duper well Ash!” She giggled back.
- Ring Ring
- Mr. Farr, the teacher of class 22B began clearing his throat as he skipped to the front of the class. “Attention, Attention class. Let’s begin our roll call,” Smiling he flipped through his attendance clipboard.
- 22B
- “Okay, Is Noah here?” Noah raised his hand followed by a loud voice, “Present!” “How about Lesslie, is she here?” “Sure am Mr. Farr, I'm here,” Lesslie smiled back to the teacher. “Ray, Max, Lilly, Tommy, Luna, Alvario, Chelsei?” Bracing for impact, the teacher had cupped his hands over his ears, “WE ARE ALL HERE!"After calling off the last batch of names, Mr. Farr eventually looked to Ash, “And finally the moment we have all been waiting for. Is he here, our last student? Ash!”With confidence, Ash stood up from their seat and nodded, “I’m here!”
- As the last bell had finally rung, the school day came to an end. The students of class 22B began packing up their belongings, all eager to return home. Ash ran to their cubby grabbing their superhero cape while strapping the yellow fabric around their neck with the snap of a button. “Now I’m ready!” Dashing out the door, Ash ran as fast as they could home.
- The following day, Ash arrived at school earlier than usual. Knocking on their classroom door with a few plinks, Mr. Farr let them in with a grin.“Ah, Ash! How can I help you?” Mr. Farr questioned as he sat behind his desk.“Well, I’ve thought about this change for some time and wanted to let you know that I would prefer you to use they/them pronouns when calling on me in class. I would also like to tell the rest of my classmates today as well!”
- PlinkPlink
-
- Reaching out to place a hand on Ash’s shoulder, Mr. Farr squeezed it with satisfaction, “Of course I can. I’m glad you came in early today and stood up for yourself, well done.”Beaming from cheek to cheek, Ash couldn’t have been happier.
- Soon enough, children began to flood the classroom with laughter. One by one, each sitting down at their desk waiting for the daily roll call. “Alright, alright! Let’s get started, everyone.” Mr. Farr chirped happily as he pulled out his clipboard. Calling off names one by one, kids stood up and said their familiar, “Present!”
- Once it was Ash’s turn, Mr. Farr winked to them with a smile, “Listen up students, Ash has something to say for everyone in 22B, make sure you’re listening.”Ash walked to the front of their classroom while wearing their favorite yellow cape and looked around the room making eye contact with each of their classmates,“I wanted to let all of you know that from now on, I want you all to use they/them pronouns for me.”“Thank you so much for sharing Ash. Would you like to explain how we can use these new pronouns?”
- Welcome Class!
- Welcome Class!
- Nodding to their friendly teacher, Ash gave a thumbs up, “Say you were talking about me with one of your friends. Instead of saying, ‘he is a pretty cool guy’, you would say that ‘they are a pretty cool person’!” Sitting back down with a thump, Ash had felt a huge weight being lifted off their chest.
- Ash’s classmates each looked back to them with encouraging faces.“Ash, hey Ash! I think it’s super cool that you are using different pronouns!” Lilly had chimed in after Mr. Farr’s attendance.Alvario uncrossed his arms as he waved towards Ash, “Anything Ash does is always cool! He- I mean they are one of the coolest people I know.”
- Chelsei puffed her cheeks as she stood beside her classmate, “Of course Ash is cool, why wouldn’t he be!” She grinned happily, unable to realize that she had misgendered her friend. Alvario looked back to Chelsei twisting his head to the left, “Don’t you mean they?”She scrunched up her nose as she waved her hand in the air, “Yeah yeah, I already said he was cool.”
- As the day advanced from subject to subject, Chelsei seemed to not quite understand this new transition. From math to writing the two had chosen to work together, “Psst! Can Teacher Mr. Ash help me with this equation?” “He is so smart I can’t believe it! How did you spell all of that with zero mistakes?”
- Even at lunch, it never clicked for Chelsei.“Mind trading lunch with me? Oh, come on Luna.”Luna pat Chelsei on the back and pointed to Ash, “Why don’t you ask them to trade?”Nodding Chelsei had thanked her fellow companion, “Thanks Luny, I’ll ask him!”
- As the day came to an end, all the students went back to their individual cubbies to collect their belongings. Ash snapped back on their yellow cape, grabbed their school bag, and walked home without even saying goodbye to Chelsei.
- Once Ash had returned home they dashed up the stairs and plopped down their school bag beside their door. Ash then jumped into bed and threw the covers over their head sadly sulking.
- Knock knock knock. Raina had heard the cries of her sibling and began to tap on their door, “Mind if I come in Ashy, I want to see how you are doing.”“S-sure come in Raina,” Ash had said in a rather low voice.
- Raina opened Ash’s door with a creek and sat beside them on their plush bed. Gently reaching out a hand, Raina placed it on Ash’s shoulder, “Want to tell me why you’re so upset?”Nodding, Ash sat up with a blanket folded over their head, “Well, during roll call I had explained to my class this morning that I wanted everyone to use they/them pronouns for me from now on. Mr. Farr was super accepting as well as most of my classmates! It made me really happy to see others treating me with the respect I deserve. However, Chelsei seemed to be the only one who didn’t understand my new change, not even once could she use my correct pronouns.” Ash rubbed their wet eyes, drying them as they looked back to their positive sister.
- Welcome Class!
-
- Raina hugged Ash, knowing that they’ve wanted Chelsei as well as the rest of their class to know about this change for a very long time, “Oh Ash, you’ve done everything right. Remember to always be your courageous and confident self, even if your heart is aching. Chelsei will come around and understand your discomfort, I promise.” Ash smiled back to their big sister, their eyes practically twinkling.“I will Raina, just you wait!” Jumping up and out of their bed, Ash grabbed their school bag taking out their homework, Raina beside them, taking out theirs. For the rest of the day, the two siblings bonded together over school work and laughter.
- Welcome Class!
-
- The next morning, just as before, Ash grabbed their yellow cape and bounded out of their house and onto the school bus at the end of their street. Tapping their fingers along the glass window of the yellow vehicle, Ash couldn’t wait to be at school again with all of their friendly classmates. Once at school, they made their way inside classroom 22B with a smile plastered on their face.
- Welcome Class!
- Placing their bag and cape away in their assigned cubby, Ash sat down at their desk, waiting for Chesei to arrive. Moments pass when finally a cheery voice could be heard from the front of the classroom,“Good morning Mr. Farr, how are you!” Chelsei had vocalized.“I’m doing very well Chesei, thank you!” Mr. Farr glanced towards Ash. Then, back to the young girl.
- Ash waved over to their friend, slightly fiddling with their orange collared shirt,“Hey, Chelsei. I was wondering if we could talk for a moment about myself.” Looking down nervously Ash had remembered what their sister had told them. Their eyes locked back onto Chesei’s with determination.Excitable as ever Chelsei agreed, “Of course Ash, go right ahead!”“As of yesterday when I had explained to the class about my new set of pronouns, you were the only one who seemed to misgender me. Not only did it make me upset, but I felt as if you weren’t even trying to correct yourself.” Taking a deep breath, Ash waiting for her response. “Oh Ash, I’m super duper sorry! I never knew I was hurting your feelings! Now looking back on yesterday, I can see that what I did was wrong. From now on, I’ll try and use your correct pronouns!”
- “I’m so relieved Chelsei, thank you so so much!” Ash reached out their hand, balling it into a fist. Chelsei returned the action, the two fist-bumping their knuckles together in harmony.
- The End!
Over 30 Million Storyboards Created