Still Trying to
Process
Friends.
I.CAN’T.EVEN. I’m still trying hard to
process everything I heard and learned at the Bridging to Resilience Conference
I attended in Overland Park, KS last week.
I am humbled to
have been in the company of such brave and courageous young people, who shared
their stories of hope. I think that’s
the thing that has hit me the hardest.
These young people, who have experienced poverty, abuse, homelessness,
addictions, bullying; the list could go on and on. These young people bravely got up on the
stage, in front of nearly 400 people, and shared their stories. Now their stories of courage and of hope, and
of resilience should be a lesson to
us all! These teens are nothing short of
amazing!
The brave women,
who were part of a parent panel, who also shared their brave stories; stories
of how their poverty, their addictions, their abusive situations, impacted the
lives of their children. They shared the
hard work they each put forth in order to have a better life for themselves and
their children. In addition, they shared
very real, very painful ways that we, as educators, put them in difficult
spots. Home visits (“Do you want me coming into your home and passing judgment?
Even if that judgment is unintentional, we can see it on your
faces.”). Classroom requests (“Billy
needs a sack lunch for the field trip...tomorrow. Folks.
I don’t have dollar one in my pocket to do this on such short
notice.”) We do these families such a
huge disservice when we don’t seek to understand their circumstances,
friends! So powerful!
Because I’m still
processing, I’m going to leave this blog here, for now, and blog more later, as
I continue to process. These people are
the ones that touched me the most. These
once-broken, resilient, courageous people who shared their most personal
stories with those of us blessed enough to attend this conference.
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