My daughter,
Hannah, is in her first year teaching. Obviously excited, she comes home with
lots of stories about this kiddo or that kiddo, almost always successes or
funny anecdotes. It’s fun listening to her and it is something I look forward
to each evening.
She told us a
story of one of her fourth graders who didn’t like to read. Not one book.
Nothing. Hannah got out of him that he liked “aminals.” His word, not a typo,
and I loved it. So, Hannah dug around in her book bin and found a book about a
dog. Warily, if not somewhat reluctantly, the boy began to read. And read. And
read some more. In just a short time, this boy read his first book EVER! And
not only that, he asked for another one like it, showing Hannah the other books
in the series. All “aminal” books. He has been asking her ever since if she was
able to get this one or that one. A success for her, but more importantly, for
him!
When Emily was in
kindergarten, her teacher thought Em had a reading problem. Huh. Never thought
that, since at home, Emily liked it when we read to her and would discuss the stories
and the characters. Whatever her teacher thought Em had, didn’t seem to exist
when she hit first and second grade, and was later placed into the gifted and
talented program. In college, she is in the honors college with a major and
three separate minors. Thanks to Mr. E in first grade, we think.
When I was in
grade school, especially in first through third, I was in the Blackbird reading
group. That was the lowest group. I wasn’t with my friends who were in the
Bluebird or Cardinal groups. Nope, I wasn’t “good enough” or “smart enough” and
certainly couldn’t “read well enough.” I hit fourth grade and life as I knew it
to be changed. Whatever teachers thought of who or what I was in the early
years, disappeared. I was a different kid, a new kid.
Thanks to a
teacher!
We label kids and
group kids and separate kids. It used to be that “those kids” wouldn’t be
taught with “these kids.” Homogeneous groupings, we called it back then. Heck,
can’t have a kid with an IEP taking an Honors or AP level class, can we? Not
appropriate. They can’t do it. Same with PSAT and ACT and SAT tests. Can’t have
them taking it.
Oh, we justify it
by saying they can’t handle it, or we might be damaging their self-esteem. Perhaps
it’s more of the fact that we might not want to deal with them, work with them,
or teach them.
But . . .
All it takes is
one teacher to believe in them, one teacher to encourage them, one teacher to
care.
A teacher (thank
you, Sarah) tagged me on a Facebook post about Jonathan Mooney, who was always
the slow kid in class. He was called “stupid” and “lazy” most of his life. He
believed that because he was ‘different’ he was ‘deficient.’ His story can be
found at: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2178525462361315&id=100006116466677
and it is truly worth the three or so minutes to watch. Please take the time.
It is powerful and moving and it might bring you to tears. It will certainly
raise the hair on the back of your head. I guarantee it!
Teachers,
administrators, counselors . . . any adult who has or works with kids . . . has
the power to mold and shape a child’s life. We can do it with sarcasm. With an
eye roll. With a sharp word. By ignoring the need. Certainly by placing this
child or that child into a group and forcing him or her to wear a label.
That’s one choice.
It’s probably the easiest of choices, because it doesn’t take any work, any
time whatsoever.
Perhaps the better
choice is to encourage. To build up. To care about and to work to understand.
To find that “one thing” that might turn a life around.
No perhaps about
it. Yes, it does take time. Yes, there is effort involved. But if it changes a
life, even just one life . . . Something to think about . . .
Live Your Life,
and Make A Difference!
To My Readers:
I am proud, and
humbled, to announce that Caught in a
Web was named as a PenCraft Literary
Award Winner for Thriller Fiction! I was nominated by a reviewer and
received notification in the last week or so. It is also on the list for “one of the best crime thriller books of
the year!” by Best Thrillers. As I said, I am both proud and humbled.
Thanks to all who
have taken a chance on reading Caught in
a Web. If you are interested in a copy on either Kindle or in Paperback,
you can find it on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696 or on Barnes
and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/caught-in-a-web-joseph-lewis/1128250923?ean=9781684330249
And if you do give
Caught in a Web a shot, please leave
a rating and a review. I would appreciate it. Thanks for this consideration!
Caught in a Web:
The bodies of high
school and middle school kids are found dead from an overdose of heroin and
fentanyl. The drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors and the Milwaukee
Metro area is controlled by MS-13, a violent gang originating from El Salvador.
Ricardo Fuentes is sent from Chicago to Waukesha to find out who is cutting in
on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has an ulterior
motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay, who had killed his
cousin the previous summer.
Detectives Jamie
Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the drugs,
shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else, especially
George or members of his family. The three detectives discover the ring has its
roots in a high school among the students and staff. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696
Book One of the Lives Trilogy, Stolen Lives:
Two thirteen year
old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI
agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all the others- dead!
They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the possibility exists
that one of his team members might be involved. http://tinyurl.com/Stolen-Lives-J-Lewis
Book Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
Six men escaped
and are out for revenge. The boys, recently freed from captivity, are in danger
and so are their families, but they don’t know it. The FBI has no clues, no
leads, and nothing to go on and because of that, cannot protect them. http://tinyurl.com/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis
Book Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
A 14 year old boy
knows the end is coming. What he doesn’t know is when, where or by whom.
Without that knowledge, neither he nor the FBI can protect him or his family.
The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete
Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys
left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they don’t know
one another, the lives of FBI Kelliher, 11 year old Brett McGovern, and 11 year
old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys become
interwoven with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand. The three
of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives are in
jeopardy as each search for a way out. http://tinyurl.com/Taking-Lives-J-Lewis
Connect with me on Social Media:
Twitter at
@jrlewisauthor
Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
Photo by Hari Nandakumar from Unsplash.