What an incredible day. Once again the day started with listening to news about how the country and world are slipping down a very deep abyss. I heard about leaders or those wanting to be leaders and how they spoke of each other and those supporting the opponents. Five o’clock is a little early to start thinking that the planet is going to hell in a hand basket. Then the rest of my day happened and the youth of our country made me realize that how good the world could be if we followed their examples.
I find it interesting to hear how many people, both with who I work and those I know in other means, all complain about the length of this week. It seemed that everybody was suffering long-weekitis. I know that between teaching at a conference for the first two days and then playing catch up, I could not wait for Friday. That was until I remembered that Friday meant starting at 6 a.m. and going through the work day teaching fourth graders and ending at our daughter’s school’s variety show as a green room chaperone. Hmmmm. Could I go back to Monday? I will admit that the lady at McDonald’s not understanding what I meant when I asked for an Egg McMuffin without ham, I feared that that day would go downhill quickly.
It is funny how fast one’s mood can change. Upon arriving at the site for our tech day, I started feeling better about things. The set-up went well and without a hitch. However, in checking my phone, I still saw how much people were tearing each other down. I turned the phone off.
Once the students started to arrive, I watched as one fact after another came into the auditorium. They had no idea what the day would offer, but the excitement to learn filled the air. These students wanted to be able to walk out at the end of the day having learned something new and exciting. Considering that the theme was STEAM, I felt assured that they would leave smarter than they entered.
For the next six hours, I spent hour after hour teaching students how to create a stop motion movie using iPads. We talked about how film worked in the “old days”, and how projectors worked. I realized I was teaching about something most of them would never see such things. We talked about what steps were needed to do their project, and then we let them free. Free to imagine. Free to create. Free to be. With each passing hour, I felt better about our country. How?
I watched these young people work together. I listened to them talk about their dreams. I saw their ability to work through problems – both problems with the project and problems with each other. These young people did not stop trying. They did not blame each other for problems. They did not let the problems grow. They figured out how to solve and resolve.
I will admit that I did not hear any resolutions to the problems of our world. I did not hear one child speak about which presidential candidate was going to take our country and make it whole again. I did not hear about how to end poverty. I did hear that the young people have ambitions and plans for the future. More importantly, I saw our young men and women showing that they do have the ability to do what adults do not – work together. Now the question is how do we keep them going without losing that ability.
I would like to say that my day ended there, but I cannot. My work day ended working with teachers. Again, what a great feeling that was. These teachers want to make a difference and are willing to go the extra mile to make sure they do.
Finally, I spent three hours in a room with five other adults and 35 elementary students. Our daughter’s school’s variety show needed parent volunteers. My wife and I decided to be green room we played musical chairs and Simon Says.
These young people left the room ready to perform. They came back seasoned performers. We asked how they did. Some admitted to mistakes, but none we disappointed in the fact that they went out and tried. For some of them, this was totally outside of their comfort zone, but they did it.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about why America is great. After working with these young people today, I am happy to say that not only is our country great today, it will continue to be so in the years to come. So thank you to these young people that erased all the darkness of the world today. Thank you for making me believe that you are better than the adults who lead you. Thank you for making me look for to tomorrow.
And thank you dear reader for meandering with me today.