Then, I listen to our kids. On a daily basis, they amaze me with their insights, their creativity, and their energy. Yeah, they can be frustrating, and I sometimes just sigh and hope to make it through the afternoon. But many other times, if I let them, they give me hope.
At BHS, we require all students to take a class called Passion Pursuits. In this class, students get to choose a passion, and then spend the semester diving headlong into that passion. They research it, they find experts and mentors to learn from, they explore it more deeply, and they take what they learn and do something with it. The first stage often seems to be the toughest for many of our students. Find a passion. That sounds simple, right? But when given the task of identifying a passion, so many students truly struggle. Not all. Some know exactly what they want to spend their time doing, and they take off. Others, however, really struggle. I genuinely feel it is not usually a case of "I just don't want to do anything". Sure, that comes into play at times. Most often, however, the struggle comes from an honest place. Many of our kids have been told for so long to sit down, keep quiet, and do what they are told. Then, when given the chance to decide for themselves what they need and want to learn, they really do not know what to do. Or they know, but are afraid that if they follow that inclination, they will "fail" and look foolish for trying. In a sense, we have been in the way, and when we step aside, they get in their own way.
Once these kids do find a direction, however, amazing things happen. At those times, it is we, as teachers, who need to get out of the way and take on the role of facilitator. We need to offer support when needed, and we need to supply freedom when it is called for. When we are able to do that, our kids will often surprise us all, including themselves.
So as we have tried to snag the wind of teenage attention spans and find our passions the last couple of weeks, I have tried to listen. What I hear each day reminds me of why I love teaching young people.
"We want to listen to residents' stories (at the local nursing home), and create books of their stories so they can share them with families."
"I want to find a way to help kids who have experienced abuse. They need to know they aren't alone."
"I love hunting, but I am not sure how to do a project with that. Can I make videos showing how to take game from harvest to the table? Like from the processing to actually how to make recipes?"
"There is a new group in town that is going to help people who need a place to live. They have so much to do with the place they bought, and I wonder if I can see if I can do the landscaping for them since I have worked with that before."
"Music is really important to me. I want to find a way to help kids learn to use music as a way of coping with stress and trauma."
"I don't know what I want to do, but I know I want to help someone. I need help figuring out if I have any skill to do that."
That is just a little sampling of what I have heard in the past few days as students explore ideas. Some students have already taken off and are making contact with people who can help them pursue their ideas. Others hold ideas still in the infancy stage. Most are making plans for great experiences. Big plans.
I know what many will say: "That's great. It's easy to have good intentions. But do these kids ever actually do anything besides play on the phones and post to Instagram?"
The answer is "Yes, yes they do."
I know they will do amazing things this that spring because they have incredible examples in the students who have come before them. Greatness breeds greatness. Students have started businesses, rebuilt vehicles, taught grade school classes about their passions, published books, inspired young athletes, raised money, reached out to those in isolation, and renovated buildings. They have laid the groundwork for greatness, for themselves in the future and for the young people that follow them as examples.
I wanted to share some of the awesome examples of what kids can do. Below is a link to the Passion Pursuits site. We need to be reminded that the future is actually incredibly bright if we just look in the right places.
Click here to see what our kids have been doing: BHS Passion Pursuits
