March 15, 2013

We can always tell when the beginning of March rolls around here in Washington State. Not by the weather or even early-growing crocuses poking their heads through the ground. We judge the time of year by high-school basketball playoffs. We have written about basketball and playoffs before, because we are lucky enough to have four of our nieces play and are rabid and raving fans.

This past weekend, the two youngest sisters headed to the state tournament to "Strive for Five," meaning they were going for the school's fifth-straight Washington state championship. This team of talented young ladies knows more about winning than losing. They know about hard work, pushing through pain, early morning practices, long days, and working on their game all summer, at lunch, and on the weekends. Basically they eat, sleep, and breathe basketball, and love it.

As the championship game began, the team found themselves in the extremely unusual situation of being down ten points. Even more abnormal, they were still trailing when the halftime buzzer rang. It was enough to strike panic in the hearts of many of us bystanders but not the team's. During the second half we noticed the players' resolve, calm, and steely concentration, which carried them through the third and fourth quarters.  

Gail and I just couldn't help but talk about the similarity between these young ball players and teachers throughout the world. As a community of educators we are accustomed to hard work, pain, early mornings, late nights, summers and weekends. And like these girls, we do it because we love it. Likewise, educators often face an uphill climb with students: starting out the year behind, and working hard through the first half only to find some of them still lagging. We are now in the third and fourth quarters of the school year. Just like the team, we must remember to remain calm, maintaining our resolve and concentration all the way through to the end of our time with students.

If you are wondering whether the focus, hard work and determination paid off for the girls, well, let me put it this way: the Strive for Five state champs ended up with One for the Thumb!