Last week, I told you about the pain that students at Bear Creek Middle School and Oakley Elementary revealed. Their writing, sometimes just a single one word, described what they felt impeded their success (lack of fathers, drug use, rock-bottom self-esteem). And late last week, the counselors were mighty busy as the students brought their struggles to the surface. (Huge thank yous to the amazing Ms. Williams, Mr. Andrews, Dr. Morris, Ms. Oldham and others.)
We needed to get those issues out so that we could enter the build-up phases of our Power of Half program. Those began today.
Today's theme was "I Am Significant, I Matter," and it pushed kids to recognize how much control they could have over their futures (even with the issues so many are growing up with), and how positive those futures could be.
The assembly today started with a trio of powerful presentations:
-- Coach Tasha Downing-Hill spoke of her recognition of the gift of being a fast runner. In one delightful story, she explained that, when she was a young girl, her brother would bet boys in the neighborhood that she could outrun them. He'd collect the money after she won, keeping most of the cash; she'd get an ice cream. Not much of a trade, but the experiences escalated from there with medals in world track championships and then a teaching/coaching career.
-- Principal Darron Franklin exhorted the kids to recognize their individual life purpose. At one point, he excused himself to "use my cell phone" but then grabbed a pen off the table, trying to talk into it. When the kids laughed at his silliness, he explained that the pen was never designed to make calls -- just as they have a special design that they need to channel into their most meaningful selves. That was met by lots of head nods.
-- Ed Morris told about The Pact, the story of three young men from New Jersey who made a covenant to get out of the projects by helping each other become doctors.
-- I was last, and I showed this amazing ESPN video, telling the story of Leroy Sutton, a high-school wrestler with no legs who wills his way to success with the aid of his great friend Dartanyon Crockett. (Watch it; it's the best 13 minutes you'll spend this month with great messages about friendship, teamwork and perseverance.)
After the assembly, Ed and I wandered into a few reading classes to talk about what the students had learned. In the room of Cynthia Carter, a veteran reading teacher, and Lillian Ham, a history teacher, students wrote personal letters of thankfulness and gratitude to someone who had been generous to them. For nearly 15 minutes, students thought about -- and wrote to -- a mentor, a classmate, a teacher, a family member who had positively impacted their lives. Then, several brave students rose to read their letters to the class, including one wonderful young lady who sobbed openly as she read aloud the two-page letter about how much her mother had meant to her.
The point of all of this circles back to what Hannah wrote in The Power of Half: That we can begin to recognize what we have to give by understanding what others have given to us. We can express our gratitude for that generosity, but also we can begin to live as if someone might just write one of those letters to us in the future. (It doesn't mean they ever will, just that we should be living as if someone might.)
So, Week 3 is well underway. We'll work with more small groups later this week and then move into the I Have Vision and I Have Resources phases. We couldn't be more energized.
+04.21.2011 - A word from the students at ...
+02.10.2010 - How should we respond?
+02.11.2010 - I love this article
| Blog Home | Subscribe |  |