I was a public-school special education teacher in the South Bronx for nearly seven years, I continue to teach students online, and my jewelry business supports teachers and students. Why do I care so much about education? Because I love seeing what young people are capable of. I enjoy watching them transform over the course of a school year and I am tickled pink when I see the light bulbs go off over their heads!
But what’s even more inspiring is something I hadn’t anticipated when I became a teacher. I never imagined just how much my students would teach me…
Sometimes my students would have an “off” day. They would act sluggish, put their head down, or on certain occasions get down-right angry. I’ve had students flip chairs and storm out of my classroom. But then, the very next day they’d come to me and apologize for their behavior. They’d open-up and tell me the real reasons they were upset the day before. Most of the time, it had nothing to do with me or my class, but more about the realities of living in homeless shelter, or how they had worked until 3:00am before they could even start their homework. Yet, despite these challenges they’d walk into the room, sit down and immediately begin their work. They stayed focused and participated in class. At first, I was shocked by this sudden turn in behavior. It was as if overnight someone had switched the kids’ bodies! They would occasionally have other rough days, but they were always able to eventually get back on the proverbial horse and stay the course through to graduation. I became less and less surprised by their behavior, and over time came to expect it.
What did this teach me?
My students are resilient beyond belief. My students have the ability to not let their past define them. What happens the day before is history. They treat each day as a new day. My students allow themselves to take a negative situation and self-correct, changing their behavior for the better.
I learned we should all be a little more like this.
As we begin a new year that’s filled with promise and hope, we have a chance to ask ourselves, what are we going to do with this time? Perhaps last year didn’t go as we’d planned. Maybe we didn’t accomplish all that we wanted to do. Maybe even January of 2022 already got off to a terrible or slow start.
In the face of this, what can we learn from my students and how can we change our mindset? Can we acknowledge that tomorrow doesn’t have to look like yesterday? Can we stop focusing on what's already gone and be grateful we have a whole 11 more months to create something new, something different. We have a blank slate to fill with colorful ideas, experiences, and people! Do we use this time wisely? Do we fill it with passion, compassion, and service? Or do we let the months slip through our fingers until next New Year’s Eve?
Recently I came across an article from 2017 highlighting young children who were able to overcome some adversity in their lives by serving others. At a low point in their lives, all of these young people set an ambitious goal to give back to their communities or other children in need.
Six-year-old Ella Tryon delivered over 13,000 boxes of crayons to children in hospitals because coloring brought her a little bit of happiness when she was on a feeding tube in her local hospital due to Celiac Disease.
Eleven-year-old Garrett Lawry decided to knit caps for kids with cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Garrett had been taught to knit by his grandmother and was grieving the loss of his grandfather who had recently passed away from cancer.
Addisyn Goss has personally delivered over 1,700 “Snuggle Sacks” with food and toiletries to the homeless in her hometown of Flint, Michigan. Her motivation – visiting her own grandfather at his homeless shelter.
Shanneil Turner raised over $11,000 to provide students who couldn’t afford appropriate footwear to participate in their school sports or athletic teams. Why? Because she understood all too well how to duct tape her own shoes together when her family was unable to afford new ones.
I am especially inspired by eight-year-old Jaylen Arnold who suffers from Tourette’s Syndrome, Asperger’s, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Jaylen experienced bullying at school because of his incessant tics. Jaylen decided in that moment he wanted to “educate people about respect and bullying.” At his young age he was able to do what many adults struggle to do – he launched a campaign. His campaign is still going strong. In fact, it has touched so many people, in 2019 he was honored at the TLC Give a Little Awards and in 2020 he even received the Princess Diana Legacy Award from His Royal Highness Prince William and Prince Harry.
It's 2022 and the kids are much more grown now, but they continue to spread joy through their various campaigns, donations, and acts of service.
This is why I love teaching. Everyday I get to be around young people like Ella, Jaylen, Shanneil, Garrett, Addisyn, and even the students who occasionally flip desks. These kids didn’t allow their lives to be dictated by their circumstances. Instead of focusing on tragedy or despair, they set goals and took action. They decided who they were one day wasn’t going to define who they would become tomorrow, or the next day. These are people who took issues like poverty, hunger, homelessness, cancer, hospitalization and turned it into something beautiful that has become much bigger than themselves.
I can’t help but be motivated (and feel completely schooled!) by these young visionaries…
What do you want your 2022 to be about? What is your story? Who will you serve?
I know my 2022 will continue to support education because because my students still have a lot left to teach me…
Know an inspiring young person? Tell us their story! We’d love to hear about what they’ve accomplished 😊
For more information about these inspiring kids and their stories check out the original article here:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/these-6-kids-are-doing-amazing-things-for-their-communities_n_597f8d20e4b00bb8ff38b63e