Soapbox Philosophy: Tapping potential in our kids

The tread of Connor’s shoes hovered about four feet in front of me. Between the toes of his shoes I could see his chin, with the dental hygeinist tackling his teeth with that hydraulic spinning toothbrush and tiny hose.

For some reason, Connor does not fear the dentist. Then again, he’s never had a cavity, either, nor a tooth pulled. I have, and while it was unpleasant at the time, I came out all right and I’m glad its over and done.

But, a couple of weekends ago, Connor got on stage for his very first non-school, public performance. His older brother, Logan, did the same. I’ve never done that. I’ve had the opportunity, but, outside of a few school plays, I’ve never had the nerve. Public speaking takes nerve and practice, practice, practice.

At Friday’s football game in Wapello, the Bears put on a convincing display against the home team, and finished the night with a 56-8 win. At one point in the game, Coach Butch Pedersen pulled aside one player for a scolding, asking him if he was afraid. When the player answered no, Pedersen said “Then hit somebody!”

Sometimes Pedersen shouts, sometimes he heaps great praise. Sometimes he talks with players as equals, conferring with them on ways they can improve, like he’s striking some sort of a deal.

And year after year, the West Branch High School football team has one great season after another. The Bears have won 14 of the last 17 district championships because Pedersen and his assistant coaches have numerous tools for getting more out of the players than the players even think they can do. Getting over fear is one of the necessary accomplishments that makes players better.

For my kids in the play, they had to learn a script with more than 50 pages. Miss Nelson is Missing gives more lines to the teachers, Miss Nelson/Miss Swamp (same person in disguise), but the kids are in every scene but one and their dialogue is almost continuous, bouncing from one kid to the other. They had to learn their lines, cues from the other actors/actresses, blocking and more. The director, Marge Urmie, practiced with them three times a week, then five times a week, leading up to the play. It worked — they had their lines down and now were “acting” them out as well.

I was skeptical, but they did it. Urmie got them to memorize pages and pages of that script, much more than I thought possible for boys who just turned 9 and 10 years old.

Look at our other sports teams, or the Science Club, or the Drama Club, or the Show Choir. Consider the long list of students who earn scholarships year after year, or set school records, or get selected for all-conference, or all-state, or even get signed by a university.

The potential ought to put us in awe, and ought to prompt us to try harder with each and every one of them.

I am nothing but impressed with how these coaches, sponsors, directors, etc. find ways to help students overcome fear and do more than they even think they can.