The Lorax

I always tell people that during this endeavor, if all else fails, at least I can serve as a positive role model for some kids who need it really badly. As long as I can set an example and inspire, I'll be making some sort of positive difference.

But I never realized how much the role would reverse- how much I would be inspired, motivated, and taught by those I was trying to serve. How much I would be knocked off my feet, forced to sit down and learn some absolutely motivating, life-changing lessons from my students- the ones that I was trying to teach.

Last Friday morning, as I was reading the daily announcements to my homeroom, I came across one that asked for students interested in volunteering to read a Dr. Seuss book to children at the nearby elementary school. A hand shot up from a student who I least expected.

"Where do I go if I wanna do this?" asked Matthew.

"Just head on over to the library when you get the chance," I told him. Later that day, he came to my class with an application for the reading program, a copy of The Lorax, and most importantly, a big smile on his face.

On Tuesday I got an email from the librarian with more details about the reading program. Thank you for all the student responses, it read. We've had over 60 students get applications, and the number is still growing. Soon we will choose the 25 strongest readers.

I have to say that my heart sank after reading that. Matthew struggles with reading. A lot. His comprehension is on the lower end in my language arts class of over 18 students. Fluency is something he continues to work on, and he just recently "graduated" from speech services. 25 of the strongest 60. He, or we, didn't stand a chance.

I can flat out say that Matthew is one of my favorites. Though he's only a sixth grader, he stands at about 5'8 and growing and weighs about 200 pounds. He's literally a giant teddy bear. He comes in after school for tutoring, and during breaks we throw the football around and rough house. Sometimes I think he's more of a kid brother to me than a student. But the most striking thing about him is how hard he works, and how positive he stays even when he struggles through school and things don't click for him, which, sadly, happens a lot.

I responded to the librarian's email right away. I realize that it will take a lot of work and practice, I wrote, but I can't tell you how important this is to him and myself. It will be a huge boost for him and will also give us a chance to work on his fluency. Please consider giving him a chance to do this.

Only a few minutes later, she called back...and completely agreed! I explained to her that we would practice every day, and we had an advantage since he came to my class on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school for tutoring. We could get a whole lot of reading and practice in and he'd be ready for the reading in a month. It's just Dr. Seuss after all, I thought.

After school that day, Matthew came in for tutoring as usual. After a couple of the other students left, we took out the book.

"In order to read this book, you're going to have to be perfect," I told him.

He nodded.

"You're going to have to read every word correctly,"

He nodded.

"You're going to have to pronounce every word very clearly."

He nodded. "I can do that. I just graduated from speech," he explained proudly.

"It's gonna be really tough. A whole lot of work. You think you can do this?" I asked.

Without hesitation, he nodded.

Just then, the janitor walked in with a football. "I found it in da locker room," he explained. "Washed it out. Here ya go." He tossed it to me. It was a great ball. The leather was nice and smooth and had the perfect grip. It was a junior size, so you could really air it out. It fit perfectly in my hand and I realized that this was the one- I had been in search of a ball just like this to bring on trips to the beach.

Matthew grabbed it out of my hands and held it up over me. "Give me that," I told him. He put it higher so I couldn't reach it. I extended my arm as high as I could and tried to knock it out of his hands, but it was too far off. He laughed and gave it to me.

"I'll tell you what," I told him, spinning the perfect pigskin in my palms. "If you work hard and are able to read this book to perfection by March, it's yours."

Without hesitation, he stuck out his hand and we shook on it. It was on.

"Let's figure out how big the book is so we can pace out our practice sessions," I said.

We opened the book to see what we were up against. For some reason, even though I've read The Lorax before, I thought it was a small, simple read. In the back of my mind, I figured if Matthew could practice it enough, he could pretty much memorize the thing by the time he had to read it to the children.

But this thing was thick. Since when was the Lorax a novel? There were no page numbers, so I started to count the pages. I kept turning pages and counting...turning and counting...and turning and counting.

"...25, 26, 27..." A lump began to rise in my throat. Some of these pages had a lot of text. How are we going to do this? Matthew could tell something was up and he looked at me for encouragement. I kept turning and counting "...41, 42, 43, 44."

I paused for a few seconds. I knew I had to play it cool. "Alright. We have 44 pages that we need to master. We have about 3 weeks to do it. Two tutoring sessions each week. That's six total. So about seven pages a session. To master."

Shoot.

Matthew didn't even flinch. He only got more excited. "I can come in in the morning- when you're here before school- and read to you. And lunch! I'll practice it."

Suddenly I was the one being schooled.

"You got yourself a deal," I told him. And just like that he stuck out his hand and we shook on it.

At that moment I realized exactly what motivation was. I thought about all the times I'd given up on something that I was perfectly capable of doing. Here was a kid who struggled so much with his reading. Yet he didn't even flinch in the face of a huge challenge that was about to put his greatest weaknesses to the test on the grand stage. He saw the same doubts, obstacles, and chances for failure that I saw, and rather than backing down, he charged. Rather than turning back, he simply smiled, stuck out his hand, and shook on it, teaching me a lesson that I would never forget.

I swear- if the rest of the world was even half as driven as this kid- anything would be possible. Matthew would tell you that it still is.