Sunday, March 02, 2008
Stopping for those roses
Every once in a while, things pop up to put a pause in our step, so that we allow ourselves a moment to appreciate how pleasant life's simplicity can be. My BBBS Little recently rolled off three consecutive report periods on the honor roll at his middle school, a first for him, as far as I know. Before anyone gets the wrong idea, I am not in any way taking credit for this achievement. He and I rarely discuss school, and we haven't ever gone over his assignments together. Most of our time has been spent goofing off, talking about girls (he should be advising me on this one!), and general "what's up with you" conversations. Any talk of academics is limited and largely general "how's it going" stuff, so all the credit for his consistency belongs with his mother, his teachers, and himself.
He was recognized with the Dr. Mac Williams, Jr. Award for Academic Excellence along with 100 or so of his peers, for being amongst the top performing African-American students in Pinellas' middle and high schools (I can almost hear Laura sighing :) ). This award comes with award ceremonies at three different locations throughout the county, a certificate, and is only awarded once per school year. The ceremony went off smoothly and only took an hour or so, from start to finish. During that time, D's little cousin J, who is only 4 years old, couldn't sit still, or resist the urge to use me as a make shift jungle gym. It must be my lanky build and long arms that call out to kids' primal desires to climb and kick, because every child I cross paths with seems to eventually end up climbing on my back and administering a choke hold.
In some very real ways, I have become a part of this extended family. This past weekend D's mom, a BBBS rep, and myself sat down to go over the first year of our match. Overall, I would have to say that things have gone better than I expected. D seems pretty comfortable with the whole situation, and I feel like the simple act of hanging out has had a positive impact. We were all joking about how I have effectively become something like an adopted son over the past 12 months. It's been fun and I look forward to the next year.
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Oooohh you know me so well! But, I am glad that this boy is doing well and it sounds like he is taking the right path in life.
LOL I could go into great detail explaining why I have no problem with anyone declaring their nationality of origin, but it's as simple as not really caring how people describe themselves. In short, I think D's success is pretty cool myself. :)