I found this on a football site I frequent and thought it bared repeating here. Don't know how it related, but it relates.
For All The Teachers and Educators out there... Reply
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We have a young man in the 8th grade at West Bainbridge Middle School, whose name I will not mention. He stands about 5’7” and has an average build. He has black hair, which is a shade darker than his dark brown skin. When he was a toddler, it was discovered that his skull was not growing fast enough to support the expansion of his brain; therefore surgery was performed to relieve the stress. This explains the scar that spans the top of his head, stretching virtually from ear to ear. When we met with the mother about her child, she informed us he was supposed to have follow up surgery about 4 years ago, but the doctor left town, so she didn’t pursue it.
This meeting’s purpose was to see about getting her son accommodations to help him with his learning disability in reading and language. She informed us of his siblings all receiving special services, and after conversing with her for a few moments, it became apparent where the root of their problems lay. What was most disturbing to me was that this young man, who reads around a 2nd grade level had been shuffled through the school system without being recognized as learning disabled. I guess it is due to his quiet nature and an undying desire to do everything the teacher asks of him. He is the student that makes average test grades and does every assignment given to him. He’s the person that volunteers to read every chance he gets, even though he stumbles over his words and has to be helped through words that smoothly roll off most people’s tongues. He’s the kid that you say you would take 20 just like him.
A few days ago marked the end of the 3rd nine weeks grading period, and as I began to calculate grades, I noticed this young man’s grade came up to a 78; two points shy of the threshold for a B. He came to me and asked me to see his grade. I showed him, and he walked away dejected, having struggled for that C. I couldn’t help but remember that the 2nd nine weeks, he made A-B Honor Roll, an almost unthinkable accomplishment for someone with his reading ability. The next day, I was getting ready for our team meeting, when a co-worker approached me. She handed me a paper and told me it was this child’s response to a question she had posed for him.
The question read:
If you could have one superpower, what would it be and how would you use it?
I’ll let his answer speak for itself.
“I will choose smart power so I can be smarter in my class room and I be smart than every body in my class room, so I can have all A on the repoter card so I can show how smart I done in school.”
I couldn’t help it; I cried on the spot. I asked myself: what if everyone had that kind of desire, hopes and dreams? While most kids would wish for something you would see in a movie, he wanted a power to help better himself and his future. The difference between this young man and most dreamers is he actually goes out and reaches for his. While some may find it sad and depressing, personally, I find it inspiring and uplifting. “To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe” says the Frank Sinatra song. While he will never be the smartest person in the class, he goes through his school life trying to be. And it is the educator’s job to keep him believing in himself and that dream.
When you stop to think about education, isn’t that what it should be all about for most kids? Extraordinarily smart, athletic, and talented people (by worldly standards) are few and far between. While they are held up on a pedestal and called things such as “gifted” and “talented”, everyone else is left to be just another student. However, it is students like this young man that are getting the full value of their education. He will never use Algebra or most things he’ll be tested on this spring in his adult life. But if he goes through life with the same desire and work ethic as he goes through school with, he will be successful in life. Isn’t that all any of us can ask of ourselves? “Do the best you can with what you’ve got”, Dad used to tell me. I feel guilty for not pursuing my education with the same fire and passion as this young man.
I am telling this story, because I think everyone can take something from it. This is the story of a young man who is a dream student. It is a true story of a young man that fights every single day for a B. It is the story of a young man that made A-B honor roll for the 3rd nine weeks.
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