The One......

The One…..

A few weeks before Christmas, my mother-in- law passed away. She was a neat lady. She taught Chemistry at the start of her career (around 5 years) and then took time away to raise her children. When it was time to return to work, she could not get a job teaching and was hired as a chemist at Nuclear Fuel Service. She was, for several years, one of only six Nuclear Fuel Inspectors in the world and the only female Nuclear Fuel Inspector in the world.

As we stood in line for the receiving of friends, a man came through the line and introduced himself to my wife. He stated that we would not know him. He commented that he was a student in her mother’s class. He detailed how, as a high school student, he was just an average student,  destined to average outcomes until he had Mrs. Gardner’s Chemistry class. He stated that she saw something in him and lit a fire under him. He said having her as a teacher had changed the trajectory of his life. I asked him where that trajectory lead and he explained that he had become an honor student, went on to college, attended law school and became a District Attorney. He knew when he saw her obituary, he had to come and pay his respects to “the one”.

As he continued through the line, he came to my daughters and said that he wanted to show them his “Pride and Joy”. He pulled out his wallet and produced a picture like the one above. My girls, thought it was a little odd and just laughed. We didn’t realize what he was showing us, until Christmas Day. 

For Christmas, my father-in-law gave gifts containing items he thought each of us would want as reminders from Mrs. Gardner. One of the gifts included this picture. We immediately were able to connect the dots! This picture was something humorous Mrs. Gardner would give her students when they had done something exceptional. A similar picture was carried in the wallet of a man for over 50 years, because it was given to him by “the one”.

I share this story with you, because I think that it highlights some important points:

1. How you see your students is often how they see themselves. We all deserve to be seen for our strengths. Our students are listening to what we say about them!
2. We work in the most noble of professions. The products of our profession are what make all other things possible: doctors, welders, chemists, and even District Attorneys!
3. Every day matters! This is what makes our profession so GREAT and at the same time so difficult. You never know the day that the actions you take or the words that you say that will live with a student, possibly for the rest of their life! You can be a teacher for one year or for 30 years, but every day weighs the same. If this point does not resonate with you, this might be a sign that you are in the wrong profession. 

We enter a new decade and a new year, 2020! Traditionally, it is a time for new beginnings.  I present a challenge to each of you. I challenge you to enter into 2020 with a renewed sense of commitment each day to being “the one” who breathed life into at least one student, co-worker, parent, or teacher. The circle of influence we, as educators possess, and the people we are surrounded by, are not by accident. I hope, after a person spends time with any one of us, they will be able to say that one of three things happened. 1) They felt a greater sense of passion for their life because they had been Inspired to develop a talent or ability revealed to them. 2) They have  a greater sense of purpose because we helped to Cultivate a future for how their talents can be used in a meaningful way. 3) They leave us with a pathway leading to the possibilities of their choice to have a positive Impact on the world. Time is measured in minutes, hours, days and years but a life is measured in moments! Let us be intentional with our moments, because it is in these moments that a legacy is created and a community can be transformed.

Blessings