Dear Teacher of the Punies,
No, Kobe Bryant’s death on January 26, 2020, didn’t usher in COVID, but his death was the hallmark of many tragedies to come in 2020. With the recent anniversary of his death, countless stories are circulating social media regarding his life and legacy. In reading a few of these feature stories, I discovered he hosted a podcast called “The Punies.”
The podcast features a gang of misfit kids who learn lessons about life and endurance.
How did I not know this? Funny, how a podcast about misfit children doesn’t garner as much notoriety as say setting basketball records or winning championships, but then again, noble work with kids always has a tendency of fading in the background.
I listened to one podcast of The Punies that illustrated a lesson of a BMX biker who was learning to sharpen his ax in order to go farther and longer.
It reminded me of one of my favorite quotes by Abraham Lincoln that says, “If you give me five hours to chop down a tree, I’m going to spend the first hour sharpening my ax.”
Then, of course, that quote made me think of teachers. Goodness teachers have been given some “punies” this year.
Kids with ADHD, ones who are oppositional, ones with severe learning gaps, ones with tragedy, and ones with plain old, poor hygiene.
You name it, and kids, dang sure, have it, especially this year.
And in spite of it all, is a teacher who, against all odds, is still navigating a battered ship filled with tired, weary, and broken passengers.
For the record, she is tired too, but in my mind’s eye, I see her still standing like a stoic warrior, sharpening her ax. She knows to go farther and longer, she’s going to need to sharpen her tools. This will take some time.
She’s okay with that.
But, rest assured, when the time is right, she is going to be a force to be reckoned with because if I know anything about good teachers it’s that they are always, always fierce advocates for the punies.
It may not happen overnight, but if you listen carefully, I’ll bet you can hear the same thing I hear.
Is that the sound of trees falling?
-CDB