Inspired

I was around high schoolers today. And true, high school is often a drama-filled time, but it's also this crazy, awesome environment for ideas. For the most part, they haven't heard it's not possible so many times that they want to quit throwing out new ideas. And because of this, I saw some amazing things today.

I witnessed a leadership class invite the special education class in to get to know them, and what school is like for them, and what they can do to make it a better place. They didn't just put these special ed kids on the hot seat though, they brought them in and made them feel comfortable. They had a give and take conversation that made everyone realize how much they had in common. This leadership class empowered the special ed kids to display their confidence, to put themselves out there. This is so BIG! What a huge thing for kids that so often the brunt of teasing/bullying/etc. It took 10 minutes of friendly interaction for these special ed kids to open up and about the same for the leadership class to embrace them.

I loved it. I loved seeing what students can do. I loved feeling like people can change, that it is worth the effort to put yourself out there and say, Hey - it's not ok to treat other people like dirt just because they are different. And these kids are doing it. I left feeling so energized, and I hope they did too.