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SANTA FE, Texas — A Texas mother was confused when she saw her kindergartner stop in his tracks at the door of his school, but when she realized the reason behind the halt, she couldn’t have been more proud.
Heather Nelson was running late when she dropped her son Royce off at school last week, Q13 News reported. She was about to drive away, when she noticed that instead of rushing through the main doors, Royce had stopped in front of them.
“I couldn’t really tell what he was doing and I was saying, ‘Royce.. go.. go’ as kids walked around him,” Nelson wrote on her Facebook page. “He didn’t budge and I thought what is this child doing?”
The officer at the front doors of the school approached Nelson to inform her that Royce had stopped to observe the Pledge of Allegiance. The kindergartner placed his hand over his heart, then bowed his head in prayer.
“Since they do not have prayer in schools he says a little prayer silently and that’s exactly what he was doing,” Nelson wrote.
The proud mom snapped a picture of her boy and shared it on Facebook, along with her account of the experience. It would appear she wasn’t the only one touched by the young boy’s actions. The post has been shared nearly 2,500 times as of Thursday, and countless news outlets have picked up on the story.
“All of us can learn just from little Royce,” wrote one commenter. “What a compassionate, faithful Royce.”
“Good job Heather for instilling what is important to your children and them showing the respect this country and God deserves,” wrote another.
Officer Cibby Moore told Fox8 News she felt lucky to have witnessed little Royce’s powerful gesture.
“I couldn’t believe that he acknowledged that this was a moment of, you know, you need to stop to do the pledge and he just did,” she said. “He just ignored all the kids around him and kept doing it, and it was awesome.”
Nelson called herself a very “proud mommy.”
“I was so proud that he stopped… stood his ground and did not move as the other kids were going in,” Nelson wrote. “This is such a beautiful picture.”
