Monday, May 12, 2014

It's about so much more than football....

I finally had a chance to watch "We Could be King" last night. It's a documentary about the merger between Germantown and MLKing high schools, and their football program this past fall. I highly recommend it to everyone.

Yes, it's mostly about football, but through that lens we see the issues facing urban education and the young people who attend these institutions. Most importantly, it showcases the need for positive role models. The coach was touching with his repeated message of "humble and hungry" and how often he told the students that he loves them.

This completely resonated with me, and I was tearing up while watching the film last night. I have only ever taught in urban schools (Tucson, AZ; Allentown, and now Philly) and have always felt the need, as did this coach, to tell my students that I love them. I was also a basketball coach, and can understand that bond that comes from teaching teamwork and persistence in a setting other than the classroom, as that is not the area where many of these students are very comfortable.

I remember a few times, where I was really trying to teach my middle schoolers some tough life lessons, and saying "I don't know if anyone else has told you they love you today, but I'm telling you"....and then I would proceed with what we needed to discuss. I know this made a huge difference in the dynamics in my classrooms over the years.

There are times, many times, where teaching in Philadelphia is emotionally draining. But when I see our world put out there like this...it inspires me to keep going. I see successful stories like this everyday, and we've got to believe in the starfish theory, or we can easily burn out.

Not too long ago, there was another news piece done by Diane Sawyer on Strawberry Mansion, but that left a bad taste afterwards. It was perhaps well intended, but to me it seems that it just exploited the problems and lives of the students for some drama and attention. And though there is certainly not always a happy ending for our students and our schools, that piece didn't really even seem to offer solutions or positivity. "We Could be King" very much does this.

The film has been playing on ESPNU for the past few weeks. Find it if you can!

Here is the link to the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy39JT2bruY