The Least Shall Be The Greatest

GOOD MORNING AND HAPPY FRIDAY THURSDAY!  One sixth of the school year is complete…graduation is around the corner!

Homecoming Activities for Today and Tomorrow:

• Homecoming Pep Rally- 2:20 today at Newton Field
• Homecoming Parade & Bonfire- 6:45 departure from GHS- see the post (pinned to the top) on the district Facebook page for more details. The bonfire will be held at the GHS Baseball/Softball complex.
• Lady Blues Beat Burkburnett at 5:30 pm
• Steers Beat Big Spring at 7:30 pm

Lady Blues Volleyball- BIG game against a very good Burkburnett- I encourage you to be at the GHS Gym at 5:30 to support the team.

Graham Steer Football-  Last non-district game. Homecoming crowd. Finally some Fall weather. A great night for a VICTORY! Get after ‘em Steers!!!

Student Holidays/Teacher Workdays- Friday, September 30 and Monday, October 3.

Make Your Voice Heard- REGISTER TO VOTE! We have approximately 40 days until we have the opportunity to head to the polls to cast our votes. Registering is easy. Just go to the VOTETEXAS.GOV website to register or to check to see if you are registered.

THE LEAST SHALL BE THE GREATEST

(paraphrased from a story shared by a colleague)

Consider a very small west Texas community in the 1950s and 1960s. Everyday could have literally been a Leave It To Beaver episode! When the boys reached high school age, they became rabid about sports. Because it was Texas, football was the primary thing that interested them and seemed to bind everyone in the community together, young and old.

Fielding an eleven man football team was never difficult, but having enough bodies for a robust practice was always challenging. In fact, it was a common practice for the coaches to suit out to scrimmage with the players during practice. Fortunately, only relatively young men coached football during those years!

One summer a family moved to town that completely changed the football team and the way the group of teenaged boys in a small west Texas town perceived the game. The Lutheran church gained a new minister. With the minister came a wife and several children – four boys and three girls. The family had spent many years serving as foreign missionaries in Africa.

Three of the boys were high school aged, and on the first day of two-a-day football practice all three of them reported. Of course, none of them had ever played a game of football in their lives, but the coaches were happy to have the extra players. By just counting the heads that first day, they knew there were enough players to scrimmage, so they would not have to suit up that year!

The oldest of the brothers was a senior. He was 6’3” tall and weighed 235 pounds. He was the biggest body on the team, and everyone knew that he was going to play somewhere. Sure enough, he turned out to be a wonderful athlete and started on the offensive line and as a strong safety on defense. He was not only big, he could run like a deer. The next brother was a junior. He was of slight stature, very quiet, and meek. In an athletic world where all of us wanted to be “bigger, faster, and stronger,” he was “smaller, slower, and weaker.” Also, he was not a big fan of contact. The youngest of the three brothers was a freshman. Even as a freshman, he was bigger than the middle brother, and he became an asset to the team.

During two-a-days none of us knew it, but that season was going to be one to remember for that little town. The first game was upon them. After a long bus ride, the players were ready for battle. They were brimming with the confidence a new season can bring. After a hard fought contest, the team was on the short end of the scoreboard, 13-12. They missed both extra point tries. On the bus ride home, the coach informed everyone that we would find a place kicker before the next contest!

Monday’s practice began with everyone, and I mean everyone on the team, getting a try at kicking extra points. Regretfully, not many had any kicking talent. The last player to try kicking an extra point was the “new” boy with the meek and mild demeanor. Being game for the opportunity to contribute, he stood behind the holder, and it was all the rest of the players could do to keep from laughing. Poor fellow, he didn’t even know how to line up to kick an extra point. He was standing at an angle to the ball instead of directly behind it. But, the center snapped the ball, the holder placed it on the tee, and the lad boomed it through the goal posts and out of our stadium. Someone had to run outside the gate to the parking lot to retrieve the ball so that he could try again. Another try, another good kick, another trip to the parking lot to get the ball. Eventually, Coach placed someone in the parking lot to speed up practice. The coach kept backing him up further and further to see how far this young man could kick a football. Eventually we stopped when he kicked a fifty yard field goal!

The Bulldogs had found a kicker! That season our team did not miss another extra point, and we did not lose another game all year. One player made all of the difference in our team and in our success! Our kicker was a novelty; the first soccer-style kicker many had ever seen. So, the player that looked the least like a football player became the Most Valuable Player. He went on to receive a four year scholarship to kick for the SMU Mustangs!

This school year there will be two big events in which educators must become involved. First, Texas schools must create a culture of voting among educators. If there is an election, Texas educators must vote. Those elected to the Texas legislature have the greatest influence on the working conditions of educators than any other group in our state! Second, during the legislative session, do not hesitate to contact your representative and senator with your opinion of legislation that is before them. I have read that the only time many of our elected officials stand up to the lobbyists who are helping to finance their campaigns is when they have to say, “My folks back home won’t stand for my support of your bill.” The only way legislators know what the “folks back home” want is for the “folks back home” to tell them. Do not be too meek to speak up!

I know that there are lots of reasons for inactivity: you are busy people; your interest is in educating children, not influencing legislation; many are uncomfortable before legislators. However, if one small, meek, and mild sixteen year old can change the course of a football season for one high school team, just think what over 600,000 public school professionals working in unison can do for our state!!

CORNY JOKE OF THE DAY:

What is the difference between a poorly dressed man on a tricycle and a well dressed men on a bicycle? (scroll down for the answer)

Attire!