Some neat kids.

Wow that's great to hear. I would feel great if I was that kid and I'm sure he has those exact speechless emotions at this time, possibly even tears of joy.

These kinds of stories that you hear just give you a good feeling inside.

The local high school will participate in a St. Baldrick's "shave your head" fundraiser again this year. Last year, the small school of under 1500 raised over $23,000.

This year, my 15 year old daughter is going to participate, not by shaving her head, but by cutting off 8 inches of her hair, the minimum amount needed to donate to make a wig for girls who undergo chemotherapy. She doesn't have real long hair, she will not even have enough to pull back in a pony tail. Oh well. I am so proud of her. She will look much different, that's for sure, but hopefully one girl will have much more self-confidence having hair until her own grows back.

Playbaseball, you have a daughter to be proud of. I know you are! Also, your child's school should be proud. Ball4Life, welcome to the site. Yes, this young man knows these kids care. This is the second such "incident" in our school in the last year. Scary! You know, kids are so inspirational! I find myself monitoring the hall ways or talking to kids before class and am always impressed. I told the story in 2005 about the special needs child that was being "left out" in our school. My baseball players went over and asked him to join their table. It made me tear up. They gave him a special seat and took back his tray every day. My 2005 team was a special team on the field. They were/are even more special off it.

Coach

I know you don't post things like that to shine the light on yourself.

But something came to my mind that I just have to say. To me, teaching and coaching is a people business. You can look at good teachers and coaches and then look at teachers and coaches who may not be so good. There is one big difference between the two in most cases. Good teachers and coaches actually like kids. And it is very apparent to me that you do like kids....like them a lot. Just the right kind of person to be in the kid business.

I know you won't see it as a business...but no matter what you call it, you are where you should be.

FastballDad, thanks for the compliment. I love my job. I can't wait to get to work each day. I love being in the halls and teaching. My kids also enjoy it and think I'm crazy. Coaching has been such a blessing. When I became a head coach, I inherited kids that wanted to work more. In some circles, I was given credit for creating a successful program. It was always the kids. I have a sign on my podium that says, "You can't feed a Rock!" What I tell my students is that I can't teach them if they don't want to learn and I can't help them if they don't ask for help. If they do, class can be special. It has always been the same in the coaching ranks. Again, thanks for the compliment.