The Mr. Rogers of our Neighborhood

I am pretty excited about the upcoming Mr. Rogers movie.  I love that Tom Hanks is playing the role.  Mr. Rogers was part of my childhood and it is so awesome that we are celebrating such a special person with a film.  I hope it tops a billion at the box office.  It is high time that we change our cultural narrative through story telling and this is a story worth supporting and celebrating.

Every neighborhood has a Mr. rogers, but do we take it for granted?  We all have people in our lives that show unconditional kindness to others.  They don't usually make the headlines, but I hoped to change that last week.

Gene Alexander (Mr. A) is the Mr. Rogers of our neighborhood.  If you live in Franklin County in Illinois, you know who Mr. A is.  Yes, he is the man who paints the maps on the playgrounds.  He also paints classrooms.  He asks for nothing in return.  He loves to serve and that's it.  I have had the opportunity to get to know him over the years I have been at Central Junior High.  He is truly a kind man and only sees the best in everyone.  He also comes in to our building every year and donates money to our school.  He gives more than he asks for and we could all use people like that to look up to.

After he drops off his donation, I always post a picture with him and a thank you.  I really took some time to think about his contributions to others while I read the comments this year.  I thought I would share some of them here and let those closest to him, honor him.

• Mr. A was my my 4th grade teacher at Logan Grade School! He’s such a kind and generous man! I’ll never forget him! He’s an inspiration to all of us!
• When I went to Benton back in 2005, he would always be sitting in the breakfast room and read books to the children
• He is an amazingly kind, generous, Godly man!
• Greatest principal ever period. Use to bring donuts to Logan school for all kids. 38yrs ago
• Such a great man.. I still remember kids yelling say no to drugs at him.. He would reward the first one with some change. He is a phenomenal man
• Every year, Mr. A donates money to our library. We actually named the library after him. He also has came to the detention center nearly every week for 16 years to do a bible study for youth who want to join. And we have one of his painted maps on our outside basketball court.

These are the people we need to go viral.  I am so thankful that we get to be part of his mission to give back.  When I retire, I will be able to tell a lot of stories.  My experiences with Mr. A will be some of them.  I hope by then I will be just as driven as he is to make a difference.  Who is the Mr. Rogers of our neighborhood?

Pills

I really was frustrated the other day with a radio ad that I heard on Pandora.  I forget the product name but it was a medication for kids whose ADHD symptoms were being seen at home and at school.  This is aggravating for two reasons, those symptoms will show up in all the settings in life and for the love of all that is holy stop making up reasons to sell us pills.  Parents and teachers that work with kids with ADHD know that this is a real struggle that medication helps with, but it requires strategic face to face interactions as well.

I have had a lot of ADHD kids come through my doors over the years.  I have had mixed experiences with parents and teachers alike that have difficulties understanding and adapting to kids with ADHD.  I remember speaking with an angry parent many years ago about their child.  He was facing very serious disciplinary consequences and his parents tried to justify his behavior by linking it to his condition.  I ruined the interaction by abruptly saying, "There is no pill for disrespect."  I shouldn't have said that, but the damage was done.  We got past that and I began trying to learn more about it.

I have always felt that people want to link all bad behaviors to their kids needing medication.  Not just for ADHD, but for lots of perceived conditions.  I hate the idea of their being a magic pill that makes it all better.  If we are doing it right, the road to a diagnosis involves not only the parent and doctor, but the school staff as well.  I have mixed experiences with this also.  I have some families show up out of no where with a bottle of meds for ADHD and other conditions.  We had obviously not been a part of that process so it does confuse us.  Other times we get a battery of rating scales and questionnaires.  This, we like.  Evidence has to be gathered from all aspects of the child's world and we are happy to participate.

What I learned from my very poor statement is that disrespect may be symptomatic of ADHD and ADD.  The lack of executive functional skills frustrates some kids into very poor behavior.  The low tolerance for frustration causes these behaviors too.  The info-graphic below helps illustrate what is really underneath the surface.  The more you learn the more you realize that some kids really need these medicines.  Science has identified the risk factors for ADHD, but a cure is a ways off to non-existent.  One things is for sure, I stopped taking ADHD lightly a long time ago.  So much so I tend to push parents to be mindful and responsible for the meds their kids take.  My sincere hope is that my students are successful and if helping a family understand ADHD better and stay on treatment is what it takes, then I'm all in.