Commentary: The Kids Are Alright

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“Every good citizen adds to the strength of a nation.”

Gordon Hinckley, as quoted on the electronic reader board in the Chehalis Middle School Commons

 

Sometimes you get a strong sign that things will be OK after all. 

I had that happy feeling on Thursday, when I found myself at Chehalis Middle School, watching this quarter’s “Committed to Excellence Outstanding Wildcat Award” ceremony. 

Every teacher in the school is asked to pick two students to receive the award, using just about any qualification they’d like. Some teachers pick their top two academic students. Others pick kids who bring enthusiasm and good vibes to the classroom. Others honor students who are most improved, or who are clearly trying to make a positive change in life after some earlier rough patches. 

Taken together, the words that these teachers said about these young teens and pre-teens says a lot about the kind of kids that our schools and communities are producing — and it’s a heartening story. 

I heard many mentions of hard work and smiles, along with trustworthiness, character and respect for themselves and others.

One teacher described students who are “quality human beings. They’re just good to be around.”

A teacher of life and earth/space science said his two honorees go above and beyond, helping others and trying hard to learn their subject matter: “They demonstrate that hard work and a positive attitude have a long-lasting impact on themselves and on the classroom.”

An English teacher honored a student who has been turning his life around. She had him last year as a seventh-grader, and said they had an up and down relationship, which ended in June on a down note.

“The first thing he told me this year was that he would do better,” the teacher said. “He said he would try to focus and stay out of trouble. I was a little skeptical, because, well, (he’s an) eighth-grader, but this year he has been one of my best students. He deserves recognition for his turnaround.”

This went on and on, with teachers giving specific feedback on ways these kids are contributing to their classrooms and their own future success. 

Walking out of the school after the ceremony, I saw four kids setting up a table in the main middle school hallway. They were members of the school’s Leadership Club, and had printed out stacks of blank forms with a smiling turkey, space for a recipient’s name, and the phrase, “I’m thankful for you because...”



The kids were inviting their fellow students to fill out these forms, which would be delivered anonymously during the lunch hour.

“We did it for Valentine’s Day,” too, said a girl I recognized from being called up onto the stage that morning.

It’s impossible to come away from an event like this without feeling optimistic about the young people of our community and the public school teachers who, despite a lot going wrong in our society, are trying to help parents raise up kids who will help our society thrive. 

As a music teacher said about his two honorees: “It’s exciting to watch these kids grow.” 

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I’m thankful for the Chronicle readers who sent me stories about what they’re grateful for as we enter Thanksgiving week. 

Michael Croxton in Toledo said he’s grateful for the high-speed internet provided by the town’s family-owned ToledoTel telecom provider. 

“How it is I am sitting in my home office, surrounded by a yard filled with old-growth firs and cedars, Rhodies everywhere, huge lawn, year-round trout stream flowing across our land, yet connected to the internet by fiber-optic cable at 25Mbits/sec in and out, and how EVERY home in the 140+ square mile extremely rural region of ToledoTel can say ‘fiber to the home is real in this community,’” he wrote. 

Gratitude for Toledo also came from retired Winlock librarian Barbara Lewis, who said she’s thankful for Bill and Pat Caldwell — along with many volunteers — who are making the dream come true for Toledo to have its own library.

“Because of their generosity in providing a building, maintaining it, paying so many of the expenses and doing the scheduling of the many volunteers, this important library is here, providing such needed services,” Lewis wrote to me. 

I’ve enjoyed your other emails as well. Keep ‘em coming — and I hope this week’s Thanksgiving brings forth 365 more days of gratitude in your life. 

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What are you thankful for this week? Drop Brian Mittge a line at brianmittge@hotmail.com.