Raider Power

While it was hard to let go of the fact that my old “Red Raiders” would be moving on to first grade and new colleges within KDE, I told them that they could always be Red Raiders at heart. We invited some of the Red Raiders from last year to come and tell our new class “What it means to be a Red Raider.” While I didn’t prep them on what to say (which in hindsight could have been a big teacher mistake), the things that they decided to say on their own shocked me. I was expecting them to say things like don’t throw crayons or sit in your chair but they said things like: “It means to stay strong, we are one team and we work together to overcome challenges. It means we grow our brains so we can go to college. It means we learn our values. It means we learn our values but we also act them out. Our values are Persist Toward Excellence, Care, Take a Risk…, It means that when we come to a word we don’t know when we are reading we never give up but we sound it out and keep trying.” They are six years old. I looked at Ms. Jackson and we both had tears in our eyes. We didn’t realize the impact that KIPP and our class had on our scholars until that very moment. Teaching is difficult. Most of the time you don’t see the long term impact that you make. This was such a gift. Hearing them saying these things and believing in themselves. I will never forget that moment.

Seeing my class from last year around KIPP Destiny in the first grade hall has made me realize what leaders they are becoming and how KIPP has made an impact. One of my scholars from last year in particular comes to mind. This was one that often had me staying up countless hours to figure out just how I could get them to sit on the carpet (Criss-cross was out of the question at this point, all I wanted was just on the carpet!) and the one that managed to find “emu” and squeak it (the squeaky bird puppet) no matter how many places I tried to hide it.  One day last year, I was walking with this scholar in the hall, it had been a long day and there had definitely been some challenges. I knew he was disappointed in himself and I realized I hadn’t told him how much potential he has and that he is loved. I squeezed his hand 3 times (just as my Dad used to do to me). I said “Do you know what that means? It means I love you. 1 squeeze for I, 1 squeeze for love and 1 squeeze for you.” I had only done it a few times after that before the year ended. This year I saw my scholar again, he was getting picked up and when I walked him to the car line, I squeezed his hand 3 times. I asked “Do you remember?” He smiled and said I love you. I thought for sure after 3 months had passed and well… him being 6…that he would have forgotten, but sure enough he remembered. J