Partnership Educators,
Grandpa Doolittle and Grandma lived in Custer, a small town in Washington State near the Canadian border with their four children. Grandma was a sweet shy woman and in fact, if a stranger would try to talk with her she would turn away rather than engage in conversation. She was also talented, by her husband's recollection. Many evenings he would stand by his children's bedroom door eavesdropping while mommy would sing her children to sleep. Such a voice should be shared with the world he thought.
There was a little band that was organized by two brothers named John and Marshall Penn who played at the Grange Hall on Saturday nights. They also had a local radio show of their own. So when Doolittle explained to his wife that he had arranged for a singing audition for her with the Penn brothers, she answered with tears of protest. She was a housewife and mother of four and she had only ever sung to her children. It was too late now, he explained, the audition was for Wednesday afternoon and one way or another they were going.
When Wednesday finally arrived, Doolittle literally had to drag his bride to the Penn brothers home. The Penn brothers weren't exactly looking forward to it either. They knew that every husband thought their wife was an amazing singer and should be performing in front of great crowds but they went through with the audition anyway.
The trembling terrified women could hardly open her mouth and speak she was so scared. The Penn brothers asked what song she would sing and her proud husband responded by saying that her wife only knew one song all the way through. It was a popular song at the time called "There He Goes." What key they asked. Neither Doolittle nor his wife knew anything about keys. She just sang. Well, she did sing it.
From that day forward no one ever questioned Grandpa Doolittle about his musical judgement in regard to his wife. There is something else that you should know. Grandma married Doolittle at the age of thirteen in Kentucky and was a mother of four by eighteen and became a grandmother at twenty-nine.
You see, the shy sweet grandma who had only sung for her children before 1960 had by 1972 won every country music award that was possible to win. Loretta Lynn became a country music legend and all with the prompting of another.
In most cases, it takes one persistent champion to help prompt forward the greatness within another individual. Malcolm Gladwell describes the human capitalization rate as "the percentage of people in any given situation who have the ability to make the most of their situation." We know that many of our students have barriers so high that they are unable to make "the most of their situation" or they are literally making the most of the situation as they see it.
Continue to find ways to be a persistent champion for all of our students who are in need of realizing their greatness. See them for who they will be. Help those that don't see themselves as worthy of being championed and champion them anyway. Unique situations take unique solutions.
I appreciate what you do. We are making a difference.
Have a great weekend,
Rob
Superintendent
Redding Elementary School District
New Millennium Partnership
5885 East Bonnyview Rd.
Redding, Ca 96001