Lessons Learned

Many years ago (1980), I was repairing the roof of a garden shed. The shed belonged to a local minister. The good reverend had a beautiful flower garden. He spent hours tending to his roses. His yard was a rainbow of colors and the air was wet with the fragrance of his work. The good reverend did not always see the beauty of his work. When complimented, he would point out the blight he was fighting or that his new hybrid was not rooting. His only focus was working to grow the best roses possible. He could only see the work left to be done. My dad said that the good reverend stood to close to his flowers to see the beauty of his garden. Rose gardeners and educators have a lot in common. We constantly toil trying to grow a life a little better. We worry about each individual flower in our classroom garden. We fight the blight and lack of nourishment. Gardening and teaching are acts of love and hope. We toil hoping to see the beauty in our work. My dad might be right. Like rose garden...

Thank You for Answered Prayers December, 2008 Experience teaches us what to do when the school is on a boil alert, when a family suffers a loss of a loved one, or when a foster child moves.  We know how to help a family who needs food and how to find a kid a winter coat.   On Friday,  I didn’t know what do when a parent shared her miracle with me. We knew what to do last spring when a caring mom told us her husband left her for her best friend and took the family savings.  We connected her children with the counselor.  Helped her claim homelessness so her students could stay in our school.  New clothes and school supplies magically appeared. The family had enough on there plate when the mom was told she had breast cancer.   Her first concern, as always, was her children.  She communicated with the school, conferenced with her children’s teachers, and assured her family that she would be okay.  She was reluctant to ask for or acc...

Friday Night Arena Watching high school football Friday night, I wanted to tune-up a number of adults sitting around me.  Somewhere in time, society lost perspective in regards to high school sports and extra curricular activities.  Too many people forgot that athletes under the helmets, musicians under hats, and cheerleaders behind pompoms are kids.  The students participating in high school extracurricular activities average age is 16 years old, which by every definition defines them as children. We should be celebrating kids for participating in activities.  They’re learning that success takes preparation, endurance, perseverance and a sense of personal pride.  A kid strapping on a helmet or picking up an instrument is taking a risk to do there personal best in front of peers, family and community members.  I am confidant in stating that no high school student purposely plans on dropping a pass, missing a tackle, or being out of step.  They a...

A Catch from the Heart The sun was just breaking over the tree tops slowly evaporating the dew of cool Monday morning when I walked outside to find a missing student. A crying boy hugging a nerf football as if it was a life line refused to come into school. Sucking his thumb and sobbing, he looked up at me and I could tell by the lack of sparkle in his eyes that somebody had hurt this boy. My heart sank as I walked a hurting boy down to our second grade classroom. After days of following him around on the playground and asking him to play catch, DJ tossed me his football. I caught it and carefully tossed it back. A smile crossed his face as the ball was safely returned to his out stretched arms. DJ was letting me into his world. DJ and I started down a path that day. He would toss me the football and I would toss it back. DJ would borrow school supplies and return them at the end of the day. Our simple game of give and return was building trust. The custodian hired DJ to clean ...