Hello Steve, it really shows what some one can do when given half a chance and also credit for what they did. I like this one. thanks for sharing. Original message: > Broken Wing > Some people are just doomed to be failures. That's the way some adults > look at troubled kids. Maybe you've heard the saying, "A bird with a > broken wing will never fly as high." I'm sure that T. J. Ware was made > to feel that way almost every day in school. > By high school, T. J. was the most celebrated troublemaker in his town. > Teachers literally cringed when they saw his name posted on their > classroom lists for the next semester. He wasn't very talkative, didn't > answer questions and got into a lot of fights. He had flunked almost > every class by the time he entered his senior year, yet was being > passed on each year to a higher grade level. Teachers didn't want to > have him again the following year. > T. J. was moving on, but definitely not moving up. I met T. J. for the > first time at a weekend leadership retreat. All the students at school > had been invited to sign up for ACE training, a program designed to > have students become more involved in their communities. T. J. was one > of 405 students who signed up. When I showed up to lead their first > retreat, the community leaders gave me this overview of the attending > students: "We have a total spectrum represented today, from the student > body president to T. J. Ware, the boy with the longest arrest record in > the history of town." > Somehow, I knew I wasn't the first to hear about T. J.'s darker side as > the first words of introduction. > At the start of the retreat, T. J. was literally standing outside the > circle of students, against the back wall, with that "go ahead, impress > me" look on his face. He didn't readily join the discussion groups. He > didn't seem to have much to say, but slowly, the interactive games drew > him in. The ice really melted when the groups started building a list > of positive and negative things that had occurred at school that year. > T. J. had some definite thoughts on those situations. The other > students in T. J.'s group welcomed his comments. All of a sudden, T. J. > felt like a part of the group, and before long, he was being treated > like a leader. He was saying things that made a lot of sense, and > everyone was listening. T. J. was a smart guy and he had some great ideas. > The next day, T. J. was very active in all the sessions. By the end of > the retreat, he had joined the Homeless Project team. He knew something > about poverty, hunger and hopelessness. The other students on the team > were impressed with his passionate concern and ideas. They elected T. > J. co-chairman of the team. The student council president would be > taking his instruction from T. J. Ware. > When T. J. showed up at school on Monday morning, he arrived to a > firestorm. A group of teachers were protesting to the school principal > about his being elected co-chairman. > The very first community wide service project was to be a giant food > drive, organized by the Homeless Project team. The teachers couldn't > believe the principal would allow this crucial beginning to a > prestigious, three-year action plan to stay in the incapable hands of > T. J. Ware. > They reminded the principal, "He has an arrest record as long as your > arm. He'll probably steal half the food." Mr. Coggshall reminded them > that the purpose of the ACE program was to uncover any positive passion > a student had and reinforce its practice until true change can take > place. The teachers left the meeting shaking their heads in disgust, > firmly convinced that failure was imminent. > Two weeks later, T. J. and his friends led a group of 70 students in a > drive to collect food. They collected a school record: 2,854 cans of > food in just two hours. It was enough to fill the empty shelves in two > neighborhood centers, and the food took care of needy families in the > area for 75 days. The local newspaper covered the event with a > full-page article the next day. That newspaper story was posted on the > main bulletin board at school, where everyone could see it. > T. J.'s picture was up there for doing something great, for leading a > record-setting food drive. Everyday, he was reminded about what he did. > He was being acknowledged as leadership material. T. J. started showing > up at school everyday and answered questions from teachers for the > first time. He led a second project, collecting 300 blankets and 1,000 > pairs of shoes for the homeless shelter. The event he started now > yields 9,000 cans of food in one day, taking care of 70 percent of the > need for food for one year. > T. J. reminds us that a bird with a broken wing only needs mending. But > once it has healed, it can fly higher than the rest. T. J. got a job. > He became productive. He's flying quite nicely these days.
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