You Can Make It Better

About a month ago I sat in the car with two friends driving back from the Cubs/Sox game. We have known each other for over a decade, talked about family, kids activities, sport, and theater. We have seen each of our kids enter school together, watching hard as they work to find their paths to join and success. For the past several year, we have traveled to see the Cubs/Sox rivalry game. As one friend puts it, we have a Cubs fan, a Sox fan, and Switzerland in our group.

On this particular day, as we traveled home together after watching the underdog Sox rout the Cubs, we began sharing stories of how we found our career paths. One friend, a former teacher, shared a story of how he began to consider teaching. He talked about most teachers find guidance in a teacher who they connected with and in some ways wanted to fashion their work in that teacher's mold. However, as a kid, he had no such mentor before him. Then he shared a conversation he had with a faculty leader, the faculty leader asked I'm, well if you could make it better, what would it be like. From this question, our friend began a dream. He fashioned classroom learning experiences based on what could be rather than what was. He considered how would I like to be engaged in the content instead of how was I engaged with this content. He took risks and in doing so he opened new doors for himself, his students, and eventually through his work and his students work for full communities.

For many of the people we work with there is a goal of college and career readiness. Questions of what type of work am I suited for, what experiences would I enjoy, and what am I passionate about. Perhaps these are not the only question. Perhaps we could also ask, where can I make a difference? Where do I see new possibilities? Where could I question the norm and make a brighter future? What can I make better than what was here before?

I often speak of our teachers as leaders and difference makers. They open doors of possibilities for students to enter new horizons. Most importantly they are raising a new generation of potential leaders and difference makers. I hope we are creating paths for them to grow, for them to make their classroom experiences not only as good as their mentors but better. For in doing so, great things are possible, just like an under-talented White Sox team beating an all-star laden Northside rival.

Widening the Keyhole