You all are pretty good "characters"... Give yourself
a good pat on the back...Make character count everyday
in your classroom. Thought I would post this "story"
that came my way... I guess it does relate -- and does
tie in with Lawrence's post too:
I'll start with this quote:
Teachers leave the world a little bit better than they
found it, knowing if they have redeemed just one life,
they have done God's work.
"Where are the heroes of today?" a radio talk show
host thundered. He blames society's shortcomings on
public education. Too many people are looking for
heroes in all the wrong places. Movie stars and rock
musicians, athletes and models aren't heroes, they're
celebrities. Heroes abound in public schools, a fact
that doesn't make the news.
There is no precedent for the level of violence,
drugs, broken homes, child abuse, and crime in today's
America. Public education didn't create
these problems but deals with them every day. You
want heroes? Consider Dave Sanders, the schoolteacher
shot to death while trying to shield his
students from two Neo-Nazi youth on a bombing and
shooting rampage at Columbine High School in
Littleton, Colorado. Sanders gave his life,
along with 12 students, but other less heralded heroes
survived the Colorado blood bath.
You want heroes? Jane Smith, a Fayetteville, NC,
teacher, was moved by the plight of one of her
students, a boy dying for want of a kidney
transplant. So this pretty white woman told the family
of this handsome 14-year old black boy that she would
give him one of her kidneys. And she
did. When they subsequently appeared together hugging
on the Today Show, even tough little Katie Couric was
near tears. You want heroes? Doris Dillon dreamed all
her life of being a teacher. She not only made it, she
was one of those wondrous teachers who could bring the
best out of every single child. One of her fellow
teachers in San Jose, Calif., said, "she
could teach a rock to read." Suddenly she was stricken
with Lou Gehrig's Disease, which is always fatal,
usually within five years. She asked to stay
on the job--and did. When her voice was affected she
communicated by computer. Did she go home? She is
running two elementary school libraries.
When the disease was diagnosed, she wrote the staff
and all the families that she had one last lesson to
teach - that dying is part of living. Her
colleagues named her Teacher of the Year.
You want heroes? Bob House, a teacher in Georgia,
tried out for Who Wants to be a Millionaire. After he
won the million dollars, a Network film
crew wanted to follow up to see how it had impacted
his life. New cars? Big new house? Instead, they found
both Bob House and his wife still teaching.
They explained that it was what they had always wanted
to do with their lives and that would not change. The
community was both stunned and
gratified.
You want heroes? Last year the average public school
teacher spent $468 of their own money for student
necessities--workbooks, pencils--supplies
kids had to have but could not afford. That's a lot of
money from the pockets of the most poorly paid
teachers in the industrialized world Public
schools don't teach values? The critics are dead
wrong. Public education provides more Sunday school
teachers than any other profession. The average
teacher works more hours in nine months than the
average 40-hour employee does in a year.
You want heroes? For millions of kids, the hug they
get from a teacher is the only hug they will get that
day because the nation is living through
the worst parenting in history. Many have never been
taken to church or synagogue in their lives. A
Michigan principal moved me to tears with
the story of her attempt to rescue a badly abused
little boy who doted on a stuffed animal on her
desk--one that said, "I love you!" He said he'd
never been told that at home. This is a constant in
today's society--two million unwanted, unloved, abused
children in the public schools, the only
institution that takes them all in. You want heroes?
Visit any special education class and watch the
miracle of personal interaction, a job so
difficult that fellow teachers are awed by the
dedication they witness.
There is a sentence from an unnamed source, which
says, "We have been so anxious to give our children
what we didn't have that we have neglected
to give them what we did have." What is it that our
kids really need? What do they really want? Math,
science, history and social studies are
important, but children need love, confidence ,
encouragement, someone to talk to, someone to listen,
standards to live by. Teachers provide upright
examples, the faith and assurance of responsible
people. Kids need to be accountable to caring parents
who send well-disciplined children to school.
These human values are essential in a democracy. (this
is where this version ends - see the link for the
rest)
Teachers need to make Character Count EVERYDAY so more
kids will want to become teachers. If teachers showed
kids everyday how much they love their job - then kids
would think teaching was the best gig out there....and
yes there would even be more hugs.
Joan
P.S. Just so you know - Frosty Troy is a real person:
Oklahoma Newspaper Editor Forrest J. "Frosty" Troy is
the hugely popular national champion of public
education.
http://www.speakersguild.com/education/troy.html
