August 23, 2010

Persistence

Written by: John Hoffman, Education Department Consultant

The low, gray clouds made it seem even earlier than it actually was. Keith wasn’t used to being up before 8 am on a Saturday but for the last three weeks he’d been going with a couple of friends to some special classes at a new middle school. If he did well in these classes, he might be accepted to this brand new school. His mom didn’t like the principal in charge of his old school; she had high hopes that Keith could be more successful in a new situation. He just needed to get selected. But today, when he got to the community center, the van and his friends had already left. Keith thought about going home but he realized how disappointed his mom would be.

He began to run. The first few blocks were easy – he felt warmer running – but then the rain began. Keith kept running; he was going to get wet no matter which direction he took so he kept running. After a few more blocks, he noticed the city bus coming so he got on at the next stop. When he got off, it was raining harder but the last few blocks to the new school didn’t seem so bad. At the door, he hesitated. He was afraid the teacher in charge would yell at him for being late, but he remembered how disappointed his mom would be. He went in.

When his friends saw him – soaked and dripping – they began to laugh. But it wasn’t a mean laugh: they were glad to see him and he knew he must look ridiculous. The teacher laughed too but got him some paper towels, helped him dry off and found him a clean T-shirt. She thanked him for taking the extra effort to get to class. When he went to his seat to start his math problems, Keith was proud to get to work on the day he took charge of his education.

This is a story of one of my students in Washington, D.C. in 2002.