26 Days to Speak Life

26 Days,

624 Hours,

37, 440 Minutes

2, 246, 400 Seconds

Twenty-six days. That’s how long the educators in my district have to speak life into our students before summer winds scatter us.  As part of the district’s communication team, I partnered with our high school SMAT crew/teacher and embarked on a project inspired by Community ISD (Texas).  We embraced their challenge and have forever changed educator and student lives because of it.  Our mission: Tell students that we believe in them and why. Simple enough, right? But how many days, hours, minutes of missed opportunity have we neglected to do this?  

My initial role in this motivational campaign was to be the liaison between the filming crew, campus principals, and the superintendent.  My reality: A backstage pass to what each and every impressionable mind should hear and know from the adults entrusted with their education.  Each campus was asked to select a few teachers who would each, in turn, select and deliver a message to one student, beginning with these words: “I was asked to pick one student that I believe in and I chose you.”  With more than two dozen teacher/student interviews on the camera rolls, this is clear: Pin drops can be heard from miles away after those 15 words are spoken. Each interaction takes its own direction but the bottom line message is the same: I believe in you. Believe in yourself.

Each interview has ended with a four-word, goosebump-raising, take your breath away moment where the student looks directly into the camera and says, “I believe in myself.”  It stops me every time because I know that this may be the first time that he/she has ever thought or said those four words.  Powerful, perhaps. Life-changing, yes.  Nearly each exchange ends in a hug, handshake, tears, smiles and more words of affirmation between the adult and student.  The film crew and I are repeatedly told “thank you for doing this” and we’ve heard countless stories of how the ripple effect of this project will spill over into their classrooms.  Let me make this clear: This was not our original idea.  We collaborated with district administration, viewed another district’s video, and knew then and there the profound impact that you can have on a student’s life when you stop, reflect, and share your words with them.

It’s not about the backdrop or your speaking skills.  It’s not about the cameras or the lights.  It’s about breathing and speaking life into our students while we have them.  I urge each and every person reading this post to view Community’s video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9vc5WLls7k , find your inspiration, and make this project your own--annually.  Each and every moment that our crew says, “rolling” I hear these lyrics in my mind:

Well it's crazy to imagine,

Words from our lips as the arms of compassion,

Mountains crumble with every syllable.

Hope can live or die.

So speak Life, speak Life.

~Toby Mac, Speak Life

Students have entered the filming room timid and mumbling, “I don’t like this. I don’t want to be here.” Many have left smiling, crying, hugging and thanking us.  Students perceive what we think of them, whether we tell them or not.  Unfortunately, far too many have the wrong perception of what we truly believe about them--simply because we don’t stop often enough (or at all) to tell them that we do believe in them.

It is humbling to be a part of this life-changing project. We have asked teachers to bare their souls, one after another, as we film their most heartfelt words and thoughts with their students.  For this, we thank you for trusting us.  We’ve heard confessions, words of comfort, raw and real words...words of hope.  We’ve hugged and cried with them. We’ve laughed and smiled, too.   More importantly, we’ve inspired so many teachers to capitalize on their time left this school year and speak life into more.  One student is a start, but it’s never enough.  #IBelieveInYou