I ran into a student tonight while out shopping. I was coming out of a store and he called my name. When I looked at him I went through my catalogue of student names and then it hit me! I ran over to him and hugged him and proceeded to ask him how he was doing.
Before we get into that, let me give you a some background on this student. He came to me broken. He was the class clown that didn't care about school. He had bounced around from home to home and was the middle man in a custody battle between relatives. He got into some trouble and at one point was almost not allowed to come back to school. When he did come back, he looked at me distraught and down. I asked him "Why are you doing this? Don't you want to go to college." He looked me dead in the eyes and said "I can't go to college now, nobody will accept me." I told him that although it would be an uphill battle, he could indeed attend college and that I knew he would.
Flash forward to the present. After I asked him how he was doing I asked the typical teacher question "How is school?" He immediately got the biggest smile on his face. This one time straight F student looked at me and said "It's going great! I just got my report card and had all B's and only one C. I even have colleges reaching out to me to begin visiting!" In this moment my smile matched his. As he turned to walk away he said "It was great talking with you!".
I watched him leave and couldn't help think about the kid he was when I had him. He was the student I went to bed worrying about but in that moment, I knew he would be a success story. And this is why I do what I do!
Before we get into that, let me give you a some background on this student. He came to me broken. He was the class clown that didn't care about school. He had bounced around from home to home and was the middle man in a custody battle between relatives. He got into some trouble and at one point was almost not allowed to come back to school. When he did come back, he looked at me distraught and down. I asked him "Why are you doing this? Don't you want to go to college." He looked me dead in the eyes and said "I can't go to college now, nobody will accept me." I told him that although it would be an uphill battle, he could indeed attend college and that I knew he would.
Flash forward to the present. After I asked him how he was doing I asked the typical teacher question "How is school?" He immediately got the biggest smile on his face. This one time straight F student looked at me and said "It's going great! I just got my report card and had all B's and only one C. I even have colleges reaching out to me to begin visiting!" In this moment my smile matched his. As he turned to walk away he said "It was great talking with you!".
I watched him leave and couldn't help think about the kid he was when I had him. He was the student I went to bed worrying about but in that moment, I knew he would be a success story. And this is why I do what I do!