Believing in Students

Believing in students. I had an experience that was monumental in my coaching career this year. I was getting out of my car to go to practice and one of my players and his Dad were waiting for me in the parking lot. His Dad said, " He has something to tell you." There was a long pause and lack of eye contact until he finally said " I did something stupid." Long story short he had a scary experience with drinking with another boy. This young man was an eighth grader, but playing on my C squad team. It was very hard for him to talk about it and obviously still scary. An ambulance had to come for his friend during the day and luckily in the end everyone was ok. He would miss two weeks of the sport that only lasts 8 weeks. I was very impressed by the Dad being there and having his son tell me rather than finding out another way. What happened next was so surprising. About a week later and a missed phone call his Mom stopped by to talk to me after practice. I got a heart felt thank you from his Mom. I had missed the call from her so I was a little confused what for. She was very thankful that I had handled the situation with such grace. I had spoke with her son about everyone being ok was a blessing. The key words that I said to him was, "You know you are a good kid. You told me yourself that you have a very high GPA. Even good kids make mistakes and that does not change that you are a good kid. Now you just need to learn from your mistake so it doesn't happen again. " Apparently, her son really needed to know he was still a good kid. She said, "He has been more open than ever with his feelings and that he has a lot of respect for me." This whole conversation reminded me of how important our jobs are as teachers and coaches. Everything we say can make an impression on our students. I needed to be reminded of this because I had not thought much of what I said or how it might impact him. Usually you say things to kids, but you never hear feedback about your efforts. This was a big moment for him and a big moment for me to remember that you are teaching more than just what the subject might be.