Bob,
We are ending this year with a bang, and I had to share with you! Every quarter, elementary teachers submit a student from their class for an award called Sensational Citizen. This is a student that has demonstrated exemplary behavior and modeled the school’s core values of Respect, Responsibility, and Readiness. It’s not uncommon for the same kids to receive the award year-after-year through their elementary career. And while they are very deserving and work hard for this honor, it always stands out when someone unexpected receives the honor.
Today was that day. I was quite honestly shocked when I heard this student’s name called because I know some of the struggles his teachers have gone through in the past with him. And then his teacher sent out a message to the staff that said: “I need you all to know that I have not lost my mind, but this boy right here has had a complete and total change, and has truly done what is needed to earn this award this last quarter of school! He has overcome so much! Love on him if you see him! I hope and pray it carries into his future years.”
I wish I could describe the way his face lit up when he heard his name called. This is a kid who NEVER expected to be honored like this. As I kept thinking about it throughout the day, I realized that he was an original Villager. Mrs. Kirkpatrick and I each had specific kids in mind when we dreamed about The Village program, and his face is on that list. He has not always been easy to love. When we say “It takes a village,” there are no words more true to describe his elementary career so far. So many people have provided emotional and physical support for this kid. Thanks to Servias Ministries, he has received 2 winter coats, shoes, lots and lots of clothes and probably hundreds of dollars of snacks and food over the years! But one of the things I will never forget is when we gave him and his brother bicycles. His Villager picked one out for him, you ordered it, our maintenance staff assembled it, and those boys were so excited that they rode their bikes down the hallway and out the doors of the building because they couldn’t wait to get on them!
There are so many kids that we give everything we know to give. We lose sleep over these kids because we feel like nothing we can do will ever make a difference. A lot of times we never get the privilege of seeing the rewards. And then sometimes, after 4 long years, we see the Light and it makes it all worth it. This is a kid that I’m not sure we would have been able to reach without your support. His teachers would have loved him and cared for him, but I truly believe that he learned to trust us because we were able to meet him in tangible ways.