Mission Moment: Falling Fruit

Every child that enters our doors is unique and special to us. They all come from different families and experiences. Some of them bring some baggage with them. And some, well, they just come over packed!

We sometimes know the circumstances but most often we don't. And we don't want to know. Because it makes it easier for us to not place any prejudgment on a kid. Levels the playing field.

Now often stuff will come to the top and boil over. We have more than our share of temper tantrums and bad decisions by kids. But we work them individually and do our best to redirect them to some other activity. Sometimes that just takes listening.

The big problem is that all of this stuff thrown on the child gets in the way of learning. It's hard to focus on reading a book when you are hungry, or afraid to go home, or unsure of who you may be going home with. It's hard to do your homework when you can't turn on the lights because your mom is afraid of the neighborhood, or you have to stay with your neighbor because mom is working three jobs, or you have to be quiet because dad works the night shift and needs to sleep before going to work.

There is a reason why a determinant for how many prisons to build in 15 years is based on how many kids are reading at a third grade level in third grade. Kids under this kind of stress CAN'T learn, even though they are capable of learning. And when you get labeled as not trying and unteachable, well what choices do you have? You live up to your expectations.

We all know the cliche that fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. I guess that could be true. But there is more to a tree than just the fruit it bears. There is also the soil it grows in and what kind of water it gets.

We can't change the tree these kids are growing on. But we can impact the environment they are in. So we'll keep listening, teaching, and creating opportunities to learn and for kids to unpack their past while building their future.