Eagles!
My final reflection for the year comes from a moment during the field day. One of the highlight events of the day was the tug-of-war between staff and students. To even the odds, I, a prominent anchor, helped an underweight advantaged group of second graders find victory against four staff members. While substantial, my role in the first event was not necessarily the decisive factor in our 2nd graders' achievement. But there was no way to tell.
The second tug-of-war was a little more contentious. I again took my place at anchor, hoping to secure a victory. The third graders lined up seven vs. six against the staff. All the third-grade contestants turned to see me behind them, smiled, and set their faces and postures, determined to win. One student even said, "Oh, we're winning." When the rope was dropped, the war began, and my initial pull was slack. The third grade had pulled two feet in the initial tug. I raised my hand a stopped pulling immediately. Outweighed, the small group of third graders, assured of their victory, pulled with all their might and belief to win the day. When they turned around to celebrate, some students noticed I did not have hold of the rope and looked at their hands, realizing that their victory belonged to them.
Belief is powerful and allows us to do great and sometimes terrible things. To a child's mind, belief comes easy, especially if it comes from adults they trust. When we help them to believe in themselves, it changes how they react to the world. The moment those students saw me behind them, they pulled with all their might instead of deciding to take it easy. Sometimes we only need to plant a tiny seed of confidence to make our students approach life with their full potential.
All of us need someone in our corner, someone rooting for us.
