A Simple Lesson

It’s been over ten years since Colonial Hills elementary began their elementary cross-country team.  It started as a way to motivate students to run at recess and be more active during their outside time.  For some students that is still the goal. Others like to compete. Today many of our elementary schools offer running clubs that run either at recess or after school.

Thomas Worthington High School Principal, Pete Scully, recently shared a story about his son’s experience.  He said, “My six year old, James, is a first grader at Worthington Estates. He’s a happy-go-lucky kid who’s a huge fan of recess and lunch. So, I was kind of surprised when he decided he wanted to sign up for the voluntary exercise club, Rockin’ Recess Runners. It’s not that he isn’t active; it’s just surprising that he’d want his unstructured time structured. At any rate, the program started, and he was having a blast.

On Thursday last week, he experienced his first elementary fun run. It’s a one-mile course mapped out in the Thomas Worthington flats. With a huge group of young athletes, you can imagine the sea of minivans, parents, grandparents and siblings. It was sunny and unseasonably hot.

As the K-3 race began, a small group took off in a dead sprint. It was likely not the best long-term strategy, but they could definitely say they were leading the race at one point.

James had a more measured pace with a healthy mixture of running and walking. He picked up his pace when he heard someone cheering for him and calling him by name. He would frantically search for the person cheering, then, wave and say hi, with a huge smile.

James did a good job of reminding me that sometimes all kids are looking for is an adult who is present and cheering for them. He didn’t ask for strategy, help running the race, or tips to be more successful. He simply wanted to know someone was there rooting for him and that someone cared.”

It was a simple lesson, but one that we all need from time to time.

-Trent Bowers, Superintendent

 

You’ll see what you look for…

Like many of you, my oldest daughter was in preschool (the green room at St. John’s) when we moved to Worthington.  Time flies! That same daughter has now completed driver’s education and will soon be a licensed driver.

For our family, having a third driver in the house necessitated looking at our vehicles.  We owned an 11-year-old minivan that was duct taped together and didn’t sound very good but was still running somewhat faithfully.  We also owned my F-150 super crew pick-up truck. None of our vehicles was a great vehicle for a teenage driver in the city, and thus when a friend posted a car for sale on Facebook, my wife and daughters decided they had to have it.

The vehicle was a little Fiat 500L.  I had never seen this car, but my family was familiar with it and thought it would be a great third car for driving around Worthington.  I Googled it. I read some reviews online about the car. We drove it. We had it assessed at CarMax. Eventually, we bought it. My family is happy, and I’m glad that the Fiat is small enough that it fits in our garage.  (Mind you fitting it into the garage necessitated a long day of actually cleaning out the garage but that could be a blog unto itself.)

Here’s the thing.  I’d never seen the Fiat 500 that we purchased before even though a friend of ours had been driving it around town and I’m not sure I’ve ever noticed another one on the road.  However, since we purchased it, I see them everywhere. There’s the blue one parked behind the Worthington Inn each day. There was a tan one parked in front of La Chatelaine last week.  I was behind a white one on High Street this morning. I’m sure they’ve been there all along, but in life “you see what you look for!” Because I’m looking for Fiats, I see them everywhere.  Previously I paid no attention to such cars.

“You see what you look for” can be applied to all areas of our life.  Are we looking for the good in others? Are we looking for things we can be thankful for?  Alternatively, are we looking for things to be critical of or frustrated by? What we look for we will find.

This week let’s commit to looking for the good in our teachers, coaches, and students.  Then let’s take a minute a share the good we see. You’ll see what you look for!

-Trent Bowers, Superintendent

(BTW:  Many of you have asked, I did sell my truck.  I’m now driving a little eco-friendly Hyundai Elantra.  It allows us flexibility as my next daughter begins to drive and it’s much easier to park.)