Rita Pierson is best known for her TED talk in which she says, "Every child needs a champion." Let me repeat that:
Every child needs a champion.
I am currently reading Culturize by Jimmy Casas (@casas_jimmy). In his book Jimmy echoes Rita Pierson's words in his Core Principle #1: Champion for Students.
As I was reading, the following quote jumped off the page and became so real to me:
When I read it I instantly thought of Mrs. Dunn. She taught the Teacher Academy class my senior year of high school. This was the first year this class was offered. We had to go through an interview process to determine if we would be selected. I must go ahead and tell you that I believe in providence. I was selected for this class because God knew I needed a champion my senior year in high school.
Senior year of high school was a difficult year. Without going into personal details I will say that before the year was half way over I was considered to be an emancipated minor (someone under the age of 18 who is no longer considered to be under the control of their parents; they take responsibility for their own care).
Enter my champion, Mrs. Dunn. Now if you were to ask Mrs. Dunn today if she considered herself to be a champion, she would humbly say that she was doing what she felt was right for her students...that she was just doing her job.
To this scared 17 year-old, she was doing so much more than that. Her encouragement and support were integral in keeping me in school and on the right path at a time when I was lost and alone and could have easily slipped off the radar.
This past May I was in the TJ Maxx dressing room while my daughter was trying on clothes. An idea fired across my synapses as I was reflecting on the upcoming Teacher Appreciation Week I was about to celebrate with my new staff: I need to tell Mrs. Dunn that what she did for me 25 years ago truly mattered.
I pulled out my phone and searched for her on Facebook. Once I found her I sent her this message in Messenger:
I hit send. And I waited. Then finally I saw those three dots...you know the ones I am talking about...the ones that tell you the person has seen your message and is responding.
What I got back brought tears to my eyes and confirmed that I did a grand thing by sending my message.
When I didn't believe in me, she did. She was right. If someone had told me in high school that I would be a principal one day I would have laughed. Me, a principal? No way! She saw something in me that I didn't see in myself and pushed me through to the finish line.
Educators, hear me out...
What we say and do for our students has a lasting impact. The words you speak over them and the belief you have in them may just be the thing they need to keep them from slipping into darkness. Yes, we have that kind of power. Every single day that you walk into your school please know that you have the power to be a child's champion. And...
Every child needs a champion.
