I Got a Rock

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! is a classic.  Okay, maybe not one of the classics, but at least a seasonal classic.  It was first broadcast in October of 1966, when I was in 3^rd grade and destined to be a Principal since I knew the layout of the office quite well.  Anyway, the story is about Linus writing his annual letter to the Great Pumpkin informing him that he will meet him in the pumpkin patch on Halloween night.  Of course, he is ridiculed by everyone, including Snoppy the dog. Only Sally, who has a major league crush on Linus, agrees to stay with him in the pumpkin patch.  The others, including the obviously bipolar Lucy, go throughout the neighborhood on the usual “Trick or Treat” adventure that many of us have traversed.  After each house, they compare what they received in terms of a treat.  Without fail, everyone received some sort of candy, apples, or a popcorn ball…everyone that is except Charlie Brown.  After each house, he sadly announced, “I got a rock! Were you a trick or treater (don’t you love how The Region dialect sometimes pronounces this “Trig” or treat?”)  So, I guess the choice is high level Math or a treat?  Remember the times you dressed up for Halloween?  What was your favorite costume? What were your favorite treats to receive?  Let’s not talk about the tricks.

Many of our kids receive treats every day.  Their bags get filled with the good stuff.  I will define treats here as enough food to eat, a room in which to sleep, a soft place to fall, parents who teach them right from wrong, adults at home to help them with their homework, and many other things that money can’t necessarily buy, including love.  There are kids here that feel like Charlie Brown at the doorstep saying, “I got a rock.”  Don’t be fooled by the persona that our district is full of wealthy folks who provide their kids with every imaginable treat.  Some are doing just that.  But it’s not just the tangible things that are important.  While proper food, clothing, and shelter are essential; they are not what lasts.  We have many kids who feel as though their personal “Trick or Treat bag” never gets filled with anything other than empty promises.  I know this because I talk with them.  They see no hope of support from adults.  They are discouraged.  They are lonely.  They are falling apart.  We can help to change that! We can make this a place where they want to be.  It can be their safe haven.  We can be the ones who fill them up by pouring ourselves out to them.  Kids change classes many times a day and kind of go “door to door”, so to speak.  Think of what you are filling their “emotional  bag” with as they enter and leave your classroom. Are you pouring in good stuff and just putting in rocks? You have an opportunity to make a difference every day at school.  Don’t miss that!  Don’t think of yourself having to “go the extra mile”.  Initially, just go the extra inch because, over time, those inches add up to a pretty good distance. Make a difference every single day.  You have the power to fill them with good things.  Many have already had too many rocks to lug around. 

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The Browns play on the shores of Lake Erie this Sunday against the San Diego Chargers.  Surf boards have no place on this blue-collar shore!