Today I am thankful for my cross-country kiddos. I've talked about how I'm a teacher before but never really elaborated on it. Fact is, I teach at a K-6 school in an urban area where a lot of the children sadly don't have the opportunities their peers in other areas do to get out and be active. Whether they live in an unsafe area, or have other responsibilities that take precedent, many of our students aren't as active as they need to be.
Luckily, our school has an awesome athletic program that affords 5th and 6th graders the opportunity to be involved in a multitude of sports throughout the school year. During the fall, students can choose between volleyball and cross-country. Having run xc in high school and still being active in the running community today, it wasn't hard to decide where I would be helping out.
I unofficially dubbed myself "assistant coach/cheerleader" and showed up to as many practices as I could. Whether I was
They are a great group of kids who seriously picked me up with their spirits on those days when I just wanted to go home and crawl into bed. I always left practice with a smile on my face.
In this time I have been able to watch first hand as my good friend, Bridget (the real coach) did some amazing things with a bunch of adolescents who, a few short months ago, struggled to run a lap around the track. Today many of that original bunch ran their little hearts out at the state meet for over a mile and a half! It was so amazing to be able to witness this awesome personal growth in such a short period of time.
And so the countdown to track season begins!
Thankful Thing - Day 6
Today I am thankful for good friends. Plain and simple.
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