Stories

Story Tellers

For 19 years at or near the end of the month of May, I listened to stories. Sometimes I was actually a character in these stories; a primary, secondary, or simply a background person in the story. As a matter of fact, for several of those 19 years I actually assisted the story tellers; being an English teacher. The stories often involved young people encountering hardship, heartbreak, and struggles or challenges of all sorts; some of these tough times being the result of their own actions and other hardships brought upon the young story tellers by no fault of their own. The binding tie in all of these tales was the ending; all stories ended happily!

Graduation Day

Of course, I am speaking about high school students getting a diploma at a graduation ceremony. But the setting for all of the stories I was a part of for 19 years was an alternative high school that was designed to bring success to students in a nontraditional high school experience; Community High School in this case. This year: however, was the first year I was able to attend the CHS graduation no longer part of any storyline; but richly rewarded and exhilarated to be a part of the stories still, by inserting myself as a listener in the audience. 

CHS Stories

The CHS graduation ceremony was never missed by Chris and I and we would even bring family and friends along to share the experience. The stories of CHS students always seemed to follow this trajectory: a young person isn’t thriving in a traditional high school setting, and an alternative education approach gives them a second chance, a safety net for a diploma. In today’s world it’s tough for even the most confident, self-assured, beloved, and healthy young adult that has the best mother and father and supporting cast to be completely successful in high school. The pressures are incredible. Students at CHS are not “the bad kids”, a phrase we would hear over and over to describe why these students were at CHS. But some have had bad things come between them and traditional high school success. The list is long of things that bring a student to CHS: all variations of learning disabilities, social anxieties, illness, being homeless, being pregnant or a single mother, being on your 5th or 6th school as a military kid, abuse, parents or caretakers on drugs or in prison, and more. As a character in many of my students’ stories, I have witnessed all of these variations of challenge; and have cried and rejoiced with many students who wrote their stories at Community.

Welcome and Accept

My time at CHS was a privilege to me. It was all about service to the kids, accepting them, welcoming them and their stories into “Community’s culture. I had the added help of Jesus’s servant attitude toward children in my soul. He was criticized by his own friends and the religious leaders of his time for paying attention to kids (Mark 9:35-37). In his day, children were often overlooked as baggage or a nuisance until they were able enough to work. Jesus turned the tables on that notion, and I adopted his words in my heart, “If you accept and welcome one of these kids into your busy adult life, you accept and invite me in as well.”  

Collective Secret Power

As I sat in the audience on May 22 and listened to stories from students and teachers, I recognized a secret power. That power always provides a good story ending for these high schoolers on this day, a diploma in hand. The power is an intangible grit and determination that grows in the student starting about their junior year and is drawn out of their inner spirit. It originates from a collective caring and commitment by the teachers, staff and the students themselves, toward success. With encouragement from the school and support at home their stories unfold and culminate in a plot of success. That collective secret power especially in their last year in high school provides the smarts to get that critical passing grade, tenacity to nail down that last quarter credit, and trust to find the cash to rent that gown. The ending paragraph of their stories has different variations and twists but all of them resolve, into a calm sea of royal blue stories who together flip the tassel and then hopefully continue their stories into exciting new editions. Congratulations to the 46 new CHS students and it was fabulous to see some of my fellow story characters (past/present educators) at the celebration.