Johnny was a tough kid. His parents said they didn’t know what to do with him. He was 13 and failing his classes, didn’t do any extracurricular activities, and simply didn’t give a crap about anything. Nothing motivated him, and he connected with no one. He didn’t really have friends, just acquaintances. His teachers said he was respectful, but unmotivated, and was on a fast track to dropping out. His parents had tried the tough approach, then the motivation approach, and finally had basically decided they were going to let him figure it out.
Johnny sat around drumming with his fingers a lot, but didn’t often have in earbuds or appear to be singing to himself. One day, Mr. Smith the music teacher, walked by Johnny during lunch. He didn’t know Johnny, as never had him in a class before, but noticed Johnny drumming on his leg with his fingers. Mr. Smith paused, stopped, and came back to Johnny and introduced himself. He engaged Johnny in a conversation about drumming and percussion and asked Johnny if he wanted to join the band. Johnny was reluctant but said he would think about it.
A week went by, and typical Johnny, just sat around at brunch and lunch. Mr. Smith walked by again and this time stopped and asked Johnny to come to his classroom to check out the drums. Johnny begrudgingly followed Mr. Smith. Once in the room, Mr. Smith took Johnny to the drums and percussion section and handed him a couple sticks. He said, “go for it man, check out the drums and do those beats you do with your fingers on your legs”. Johnny timidly began to mess around. Mr. Smith went off to his office. 10 minutes later, Johnny was still playing away when the bell rang. A few weeks went by, and Johnny became a regular at lunchtime in Mr. Smith’s room. As semester 1 came to a close, Mr. Smith told Johnny he should come to band starting second semester and just check it out at least. Johnny was slated for Art as his elective, but didn’t like Art. He agreed and started in January in the band.
Fast forward two years: Johnny was now in high school, in band, and had passing grades. He came early to the band room, and often stayed late. His chin was up, his shoulders were up, and he was a school musician. Mr. Smith in that one moment made a huge different in Johnny’s life. He made a conscious decision to stop and talk to a kid who clearly needed someone to pay them some attention. Mr. Smith gave up 3 minutes of his lunch, but the impact was tremendous. We each have minutes of every day where we can have a huge impact on kids. We have to be intentional, and we have to sometimes go out of our way. In the moment, we may not see or feel any impact in small actions we do, but the possibilities are endless, and the opportunities for impact are there often. Be the one who commits to making a daily difference in those precious minutes in the day. Look for the student (or staff member) who is flying under the radar and who is not necessarily someone you know. You can, will, and must be impactful.
