I've got to tell you, I received two of the nicest phone calls this
week. The principal of another school district called to let me know
how caring and supportive our students were while our team was competing against them at a recent
basketball game. Apparently, at half-time a
young boy's family was doing a fundraiser to help offset costs of this
youngster's heart surgeries. Our student section and our adult fans called
the young man over, encouraged his efforts, and donated to his cause. I thanked my principal friend for passing along the compliments.
Then today the president of their booster club called
with similar compliments, from the same event. She wanted me to be sure I knew how much she appreciated the fact that our students conducted themselves in a way that we should be proud of.
And then I think back to the e-mail we received back in the fall of this year from the parent of a football player whose team was our guest one Friday night at our new facility. He just wanted us to know how impressed he was with the hospitable treatment their team and their fans received from our staff, our booster club, and our community. He said, "...we were welcomed as warmly and
as friendly as I have ever seen a visiting school be welcomed."
I openly confess an immense feeling of pride for our students, our staff, and our community when I hear these comments. But what really strikes me is the strength of character it takes to pick up the phone and make a call to a
stranger you don't know to compliment him on the conduct of his
students, whom you also don't know! I believe what these good people realize is that when an act is encouraged, it is repeated. So I don't share these messages to brag about how fantastic our kids are, but to highlight the fact that the standard for the good and kind treatment of others has been set high--and rightly so--and we must continue to live up to that standard.
If we keep our eyes fixed upward on this standard and on these examples, we'll continue to act in ways that are honorable, and become living proof that character counts.
