April 28, 2018
Since 2014, I’ve had the privilege of being a mentor for Classroom Champions, an organization whose mission is to educate students nationwide on the importance of pertinent life skills like goal setting, perseverance, courage, and healthy living. Each month, I record a 3-5 minute video focusing on the topic for that month, and I speak on how that particular skill is incorporated in my own life. At the end of each video, I give my students a challenge. That gives them the chance to implement that skill into their own lives. That video is then made available to the classrooms around the country that I have been assigned to. My students will then send to me anything from video responses, PowerPoints, to essays, outlining the work that they did to apply the monthly theme to their lives. Classroom Champions lasts for the duration of the school year, and as you can imagine, those final days of school make it really tough to say good-bye to the students. Toward the latter part of the school year, some classes are fortunate enough to receive an in-person visit from their mentor, and this year, I was the lucky guy who got to visit my students who attend Oak Grove Elementary in Medford, Oregon. Listen, these classroom visits are so exciting and full of energy. After exchanging videos and having live Skype calls during the school year, meeting in person brings the mentor-student relationship full circle. As soon as you walk in the door, it feels as though you’re simply catching up with old friends. This classroom visit was nothing short of amazing! Check out this article that gives a great illustration of the day that I spent with my students of Oak Grove. I’m very fortunate to be a part of such a great organization. Always remember that kids really do have what it takes, they just need someone in their corner to help them see their potential.
