GOOD MORNING…HAPPY FRIDAY!
RSB3- The RSB3 will be competing tomorrow at the Seymour Marching Contest. Good Luck RSB3!
Lady Blues Cross-Country- Congratulations to Mary Lyndell Graham and Lillian Graham on medalling at the Alvord Meet!
Lady Blues Volleyball- The Lady Blues will host Stephenville at 5:00 pm for their “Pink Out” match. GO LADY BLUES!
Graham Steer Football- The Steers will be at Newton Field this evening for a 7:00 pm kickoff vs the Hirschi Huskies. GO STEERS!
Register To Vote- Make sure your voter registration is active and has your current address. Check your voter registration status here. If you aren’t registered, register to vote here! If you need to make changes to your name or address, do that here! Mark your calendar for these dates:
October 11: Last day to register to vote
October 24 - November 4: Early voting
October 27: Educator Voting Day
November 8: Election Day!
The Least Shall Be the Greatest...
This story is paraphrased from a story shared with me several years ago by a colleague.
Consider a very small west Texas community in the 1950s and 1960s. Every day 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 teenage 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 on 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, but he could also 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 placekicker 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 goalposts 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 the 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 man on a bicycle? (Scroll down for the answer.)
Attire!
HAVE A NICE DAY…TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND OTHERS!
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