Stepping Up!

About five minutes ago, I was reminded of something I already knew.   It was well worth being reminded of.  This is it.

No matter how well you think you know someone, they can surprise you.

I was sitting in our school's weekly chapel service, and nothing unusual was really happening.  Our speaker was a bit unusual just because he came over from Kenya, but that's not totally weird.  Near the end, our theater teacher got up to announce that tickets for the fall play were on sale.  That's totally normal this time of year.  Part of the cast was going to perform a small selection as advertisement.  We do that every time we have a play, so nothing strange there - until it started.  Then, I was stunned.

Our IT director ran out with two of the cast members, firing a NERF dart gun at imaginary birds.  No, he hadn't lost his mind from students telling him "my internet is broken."  He is a cast member!!!  This man with a reputation for being a lovable curmudgeon is in the play!  You could have knocked me over with a feather.

When I asked him about this later, his response was, "I'm an enigma wrapped in a riddle."  After asking around, I got more of the story.  What made this man agree to do this?  He was needed.  The person who was originally cast in this part was unable to participate, and he agreed to help.

As I sit here thinking about this, it occurs to me - This is what teachers do.  Good teachers do their job.  Great teachers step up.  They do things they would never have imagined doing because it is needed.  In my sixteen years of teaching, I have seen examples of this - not just in the school in am in now - but in every school.

Some examples:
- A teacher who learned a sport she didn't yet know how to play because the middle school team needed a coach.
- A teacher who agreed to take kids on an overnight field trip because the person who usually did it was sick.
- An IT professional who installed all the network cables in the school building in order to save the school some money.
- Teachers who buy hundreds of dollars in supplies each year out of their own pocket.
- A teacher who take on student council because there wouldn't be a student council if he didn't.
- Administrators who put out chairs and set tables for banquets because there won't be chairs and tables if someone doesn't do it.
- Librarians who take on additional clubs because a student asked for it.
- Teachers who stayed at school overnight during an ice storm because busses couldn't get the kids home.
- A math teacher who decided dance was worth teaching.
- Teachers who give up their lunch time to tutor or fill in for other teachers.
- A history teacher who started an AP program and a theater program at the same time.

Schools could educate without this type of drive, but they couldn't mentor.  They couldn't inspire.  They couldn't motivate students to innovate.  Great schools are only great because great teachers, great administrators, great librarians, and great IT people step up in ways even they would never have imagined.

I have left off the names of these people because I think most of them would prefer it that way, but I am inspired by these people.  If you attend the GRACE fall production, you should be inspired as well - by the man who stepped up because something needed to be done.