Ditch
Digging
Sometimes educating young people
can seem like an act of futility. It’s like if someone gives you a teaspoon at
the beginning of the school year and tells you, “There is a pile of dirt out
back. I want you to take that spoon and dig down 20 feet. At the bottom, there
is something that will help your students be successful this school year.” We
know that it sounds like a difficult job, but not impossible. And we’re in this
career because we believe that we can make a difference (at least, we used to,
and some part of us still does). So we take our spoon, and we start to dig. The
spoon breaks, but we get another one, and we dig. The sweat pours into our
eyes, making it difficult to see, but we dig. It’s hot. It’s cold. There are
other things that need to be done. But we dig. And we get to the bottom of the
ditch – and it’s empty. And the school year is over. So we leave feeling the frustration
of digging a 20 foot ditch with a spoon for no reason. And then we come back
the next school year, and there’s the pile of dirt, and the spoon, and we start
digging because someone told us that the ditch contains something that will
make our students successful. And the end of the year comes – and the ditch is
dug – and it’s empty. And some of us do that for years upon years upon years.
We’re at that time of year when we are tired. We are in
survival mode. We are praying and hoping that all of the hard work pays off,
yet fearing that there will be nothing to show for it instead. If you are
feeling that hopelessness, I want to encourage you to change your outlook. We
spend the school year working hard to make our students successful. It is
difficult work, but not insurmountable. We don’t always have the right tools
for the job, but what we have will suffice. When you are at the bottom of the
ditch, as we are now – don’t look into it and see the empty hole at the bottom.
Look at it from the top down and see the hard work, the huge accomplishment,
and have faith. The prize is not to be found at the bottom of the ditch. The
prize is in the digging. “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what
is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” Yes-
we want the STAAR scores to show our huge efforts. But I can almost guarantee
that not one of you became an educator hoping in your heart of hearts that you
would have amazing STAAR scores at the end of the year. I would bet that you
became a teacher (or principal, or counselor, or any other staff member) out of
a desire to make a difference in the lives of young people. Do not discount the
fact that YOU HAVE THE POWER to change and influence this generation – as well
as their children and their grandchildren. We don’t do that through STAAR
scores. We do that through the process of ditch-digging. You may have been that
one person this year that believed in a student and therefore made him believe
in himself. Something you said this year may have made a young lady stop
cutting herself. Your voice may echo in the mind of a college student 6 or 7 years
from now, telling him, “Don’t settle for a 70 when you’re capable of a 90!” The
butterfly effect of our actions and words and teaching this year may make an
untold difference in the years to come, and the odds are that we will never see
it or know it. Keep digging. We’re not done yet – we have a few more feet to go.
“Do not grow weary in doing good, for in due time you will
reap a harvest.”
D. Theesfield, 2014
