Paco vs. Paca

I have a student that has a particularly difficult name to say. It's Adaleberto. I'm not sure why, but my tongue can't say it! I've tried. Every time I attempt to say it, it comes out wrong and he laughs. Even worse, I accidently say it wrong in front of the whole class and they all laugh. Luckily for me, he has an outgoing personality. It doesn't seem to bother him much. Regardless, I decided to start calling him Paco. I told him until he taught me how to say his name right, I was going to call him Paco. A few days after I started this, a friend(another teacher in the building) of mine told him that I was trying to get better at Spanish and that I needed to learn to say his name correctly. She had warned me that she had this conversation so I wasn't surprised the next time I called him Paco. In a super respectful voice he said, "Ms. I was told you are trying to learn Spanish so you have to learn how to say my name right." He was so nervous to "correct" me but he was right. After class, I asked him to say his name for me a few times and I practiced all night long...ask Chad! Although, Chad thought I was saying "open" in Spanish. He doesn't speak the espanol! The next day I called him by his correct name during class and shocked the whole group! However, in the mean time, he has begun to call me Paca (replacing a Spanish word ending in "o" with an "a" makes it feminine). We still banter back and forth, me calling him Paco and him call me Paca, outside of the class period. It's amazing how something so small means so much to kids. At this point, he seems to be successful when interacting with me. He has had a rough past, behaviorily speaking. But life seems to be getting better for him...who knew Paco vs. Paca could be so great!