Open Your Eyes Wide to the Heroes Beside

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Can you spot a hero? We work beside them. They are every where but often blind to the fact that they make such a difference.

Heroic people rarely stand at the front of a hall hearing applause. They are watching reruns at night along rocking a colicky baby. They are in a hospital room reading a book to a sick friend. They are all over schools.

Heroes in the schoolhouse.

The teachers

You. Yes, you. You are misunderstood. Yet you show up to work every day with a smile on your face. You have love in your heart. You have a burning desire to improve the lives of children. Hero.

The janitor

You. Yes, you. The quiet janitor who mops up the mess in the halls. Your meticulous, thankless job probably saves hundreds of illnesses a year. Maybe even a few lives. Hero.

School Secretary

You. Yes, you. You are kind even when you’re tired. You sort life changing messages from the distractions. You buffer administrators and teachers so they can do their job. Hero.

Bookkeeper

You. Yes, you. You make that deposit faithfully knowing your own bank account is painfully empty. Maybe some think it is not heroic just to be honest. Heroes do the right thing when no one is looking. Hero.

IT Staff

You. Yes, you. You could leave early some days but choose to do that maintenance that no one knows about. No one understands what you do. You do the right thing anyway. Hero.

Media Specialist

You. Yes, you. There are children who love to read today because you took the time to help them find the perfect book. Hero.

Lunchroom Staff

You. Yes, you. The lunchroom staff who make good food. You take the long way because it tastes better. Your job, when done well, can save thousands of pounds of fat. Maybe a few lives as well. Hero.

School Nurse

You. Yes you. The school nurse who hugs the crying child who just got sick. You decide to be personal and close knowing that you might be exposed to something, just because that child needs love. Hero.

Administrator

You. Yes you. The administrator who is pounded on multiple times a day. You still make time to hi-5 kids in the hall. You find encouragement to give others even though you get far too little yourself. Hero.

Is everyone a hero?

No. There is a difference between having a job and doing a job well. The difference between just being here and being a hero is the “O!” The extra.

Just because you work in a school doesn’t mean you’re a hero. You just have a lot of potential to be one.

Thank the heroes.

O! They struggle with depression, recession and the exhaustion of obsession like everyone else.

That’s because the price of a being a hero is everything. Everything you’ve got and some you don’t. O! Because that is what heroes do… they give all they have in a cause worth giving it for.

O! Heroes get tired… bone tired. They wonder if they matter. They cry because they feel like a failure. They wonder if all the things they give up are worth it. They ask themselves if they should just quietly go live on Walden pond alone.

YOU!

You. Hey you. You reading this. Open your eyes wide to the heroes beside.

Your thanks and words may just be all that is standing between a hero and the abyss. The recognition of heroes is probably the quickest path to being one yourself.

Be a hero.

———

Photo Credit: iStockPhoto

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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

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Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis has been an educator and IT director in Georgia since 2002. Today, she also works as an instructional technology coach, staying side-by-side with active teachers and students so her work stays grounded in real classrooms.

She's a mom of three, wife of one, and loves talking about the wise, transformational use of technology for teaching and doing good in the world.

She has blogged at the Cool Cat Teacher Blog since 2005 and hosts the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast and Cool Cat Teacher Talk (radio, public access TV, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms), interviewing remarkable educators around the world. Vicki focuses on what unites us — a quest for truly remarkable, life-changing teaching and learning. The goal of her work is to provide actionable, encouraging, relevant ideas for teachers, grounded in truth and shared with love.

If you talk to Vicki for long, she'll encourage you to "Relate to Educate," to "innovate like a turtle," or to be "a remarkable teacher." She loves homemade sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls and runs half marathons with her sisters. You can usually find her laughing with her students or digging into a book.

Thank you for reading, sharing, and telling your friends about the work we do here! - Vicki

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