June, 2018
Christmas break was drawing near and we were beginning to wind down our class game time (CGT) rotations.
I was teaching a 4th grade CGT when the teacher came up to me and asked me about the kid who had mentioned me in their DARE graduation speech. The 5th graders had just completed the DARE program that week and had capped off the class with a graduation ceremony.
“I hadn’t heard about the speech” I told the teacher.
“Oh yeah,” she said. “He said ‘Coach Drew is my Role Model,’ you should find out who he is.”
I was intrigued so that day after school I asked my junior coaches (JC’s) if they had heard the speech.
Turns out it was one of my Junior Coaches. He had observed me talking with a Kindergartener who was notorious for not wanting to go inside when the bell rang, and he had admired my patience and listening skills.
The next day, his teacher approached me with a copy of the speech (which won the speech competition) and gave me a printed copy.
I was struck by how “more is caught than taught,” and that these kids really do see everything that we do. I have seen that student using the techniques that I taught him and the Junior Coaches and it’s both an honor and a great responsibility to teach these kids how to be outstanding servants and leaders.
This story was submitted by Andrew Thompson, a Playworks Utah coach.