Great Story - Chief Sealth Student Coach
This story appeared in the Seattle Times of January 24.
"Chief Sealth point guard Tre'Von Lane has a unique senior project — coaching the West Seattle high school's freshman team"
Note what turned things around for this young man - the active involvement of adults in his education. One-on-one concern.
"Chief Sealth point guard Tre'Von Lane has a unique senior project — coaching the West Seattle high school's freshman team"
Note what turned things around for this young man - the active involvement of adults in his education. One-on-one concern.
Comments
The part I liked best was what inspired him to work harder in school and raise his GPA from 1.8 to 3.5:
...with the help and prodding of mentor and teacher Lisa Hara, his grades improved.
"She was on me every single day," Lane says. "She would call my mom and say, 'Tre' is missing work, tell him to do it.' "
Then, Hara suffered a debilitating stroke last summer. Lane promised her he would raise his GPA to a 3.0. He did that and more. He now says he has a 3.5.
Another example of how individual teachers and staff (in this case Hara and Colin Slingsby, the varsity coach) can make all the difference.
What's more important—closing the achievement gap for the entire class by a few points, or making an enormous difference in the life of one or two children? We honestly cannot expect teachers to have this kind of input for 30-100 kids. And in our evaluating frenzy, how to we credit teachers for individual student gains? And should we?
I'd like to hear what other people think.
I know it is easy to chime in when you see a story about a student you know, but please respect student privacy. FERPA exists for a reason, and you just violated it with your post.
Coach Slingsby is one of the hidden gems of Seattle Public Schools, and his faith in his players is one of the reasons it is easy to love the Chief Sealth team. They aren't often flashy nor do they have one star player, but when they play as a team, they are pretty amazing.
On and off the court, Coach Slingsby is a great teacher (lanauge arts), and Tre is an example of what believing in one kid can do.
The cost is "nothing" when classroom teachers/advisors do it as part of their "job." We are salaried- extra time and additional duties are "part of the contract." However, limits to these extras are often self imposed. We have to draw the line somewhere or our families suffer. Some of us even suffer personally when the lives of our students become more than we can bear- we suffer their trauma indirectly.
It is a tough job.