As an extracurricular academic coach, so many rewarding opportunities have presented themselves when it comes to watching students achieve their goals. In the case of the small town school that's been my employer now for many years, the trip to Austin for state-wide competition has been the pinnacle.
And so it was this past week as we enjoyed a contingency of 11 such students, all of whom experienced the chance to compete at the highest level.
And compete they did. And compete with honor they did. And honor their school and family by their behavior they did.
So, I come home tired tonight, another state trip in the books, with pride and joy for these kids and their families.
End of blog.
Except for one thing: the ones left behind.
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Many years ago as a young teacher/coach, this academic competition was about me. Me showing how hard I worked, how smart I thought I was. Me showing how competitive I was. Me, the people pleaser and overachiever, wanting to add something to my resume. Me. Me. Me. I. I. I.
Somewhere along the career path, The Morph took place. For these past many years, the focus has been where it needed to be all along: on the children.
Coaching will always be about results. Accountability has its place, and when those results are measured in medals, it just seems everyone is a bit happier.
Unfortunately, for every student we took to Austin, there were just as many back home who had worked hard, some maybe even harder. There were early Saturday mornings and late Saturday nights for speech tournaments and academic meets. From September to April, the grind to study and prepare and speak were mixed in with the demands of regular education and other extracurricular events such as FFA, athletics, a part-time job, or all three.
I want the pinnacle for all of them. I do not like to leave anyone behind who has put in the work and given everything he or she possibly could and yet still comes up short.
This is how I know I have evolved. In the early years of my career when a school year started, I always hoped I would have one student get ME to Austin so that I could miss school, eat well, stay in a hotel, and basically receive the accolade. Shameful but necessary to admit. It is daily self-evaluation that helps us grow, no matter our ages.
Thankfully, I now see individual students with unique talents and gifts which need to be nurtured and channeled to a certain academic event or speaking event or FFA program or to a certain sport or instrument and say "get after it." I am here to support them on the way to their pinnacle, God love them, not mine.
Confessing this should explain now why I am sad, even after being on a recent trip with 11 students. Some others stayed home and missed the opportunity. They will have to wait. If they are seniors, the chance is over. I carry the disappointment for so many talented writers and speakers and test-takers who never made it to Austin, in part because I did not give quite enough.
This personal shortcoming is partially what drives me to continue coaching with the passion that I do, but more than anything it is the joy I want students to experience that pushes me to challenge them. I do not want to leave them behind because I know what lies ahead: their chance to shine and their opportunities to experience
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The young man in the photo worked after school and on weekends. He had no suit of his own; three were given to him by the family of a former speaker/debater. He went to every tournament he could. He came to tutorials for help. He read his ballots. He tried to write his own speeches. He stayed in the background many times while our future state champion won most all of the time. He listened. He watched. He learned. But, he got left behind after losing in the semi-finals at regional, one win away from state competition.
I know I could have done more. I know, said his coach.
I should have done more. I should have, said his teacher (who is also his coach).
So, 2016--here's to what went right in our pursuit of excellence.
And to you, 2017--dedicated to making things right for those left.......behind no more.
