Steve Edwards' Miracles Are Possible: Schools

America’s gift to our children is their guaranteed education. It has the power to change the direction of a student’s life as they mature regardless of where they began in life. Without the tools of knowledge, drive, determination, commitment and motivation to take full advantage of America’s greatest gift the world will be denied many future Thomas Edison’s, Thomas Jefferson’s, Alexandra Graham Bell’s and Bill Gates’ and many other inspiring individuals that have changed our world.

Without the necessary tools they will quickly give up after the first try, leaving many dreams in the corners of their minds; dreams unachieved that could have changed the world.

Wouldn’t it be nice if every American child really had the chance to be able to live their dream and make their contributions to the world upon completion of their education? Wouldn’t it be nice if our children had the chance to be recognized by the world of the future and their existence acknowledged? Wouldn’t it be nice if students could know that others would follow their footprints to greatness?

We have given them every opportunity to soar among the eagles and leave their mark on the world. Right? Wrong!

Regardless of the knowledge that we have instilled in them, one thing that we have yet to make a part of their daily routine is to expect more and to offer encouragement every step of the way. Not just instilling in them the necessary book knowledge, but guidance in everything they do. With many children being born to mothers that are barely out of high school themselves our responsibility to become “co-parents” to students grows stronger. We must be their guiding light in the way they dress, act, and their commitment to excellence in everything they do regardless of their current circumstances. We are to be examples of who they should want to become, not necessarily as a teacher, but as a person.

I was so fortunate to have such a teacher. Helen Culp, my music teacher, demanded not only academic excellence but also personal excellence in everything I did. With Miss Culp you were always very clear who was the teacher and who was the student and what was expected of you. She demanded respect, excellence, dedication, loyalty, commitment and perfection in every aspect of your life. She never asked for more than she was willing to give back herself ten times over. She was a very strict disciplinarian, but she changed my life and the lives of thousands of others from her first day of becoming a teacher. What a remarkable teacher and individual. She truly understood the meaning of being a real “teacher”. Real teachers do not limit themselves to subject matters they specialize in when dealing with their students. They take a real interest in the emotional development and will being of the child. One would think that there is no way one teacher can touch so many lives all in this same manner, but try and tell a real “teacher” that and be prepared for your first lesson in what teaching is all about from their perspective.

I remember many years later after graduation a music salesman told me he used to make sales calls on her as one of his clients and he absolutely hated her because she was so demanding. On a return trip from Florida for summer vacation he happened to pass by the school and he saw her car in the school parking lot. School was out for the summer. All the teachers had gone home so he decided just to drop in and say hello. He said as he entered the band room he saw about 100 military marching band uniforms around the room but the usual brass military buttons that adorned them had been removed. He said he knew it had to be several thousand. As he turned the corner, there sat Miss Culp with a can of Brasso and a cloth polishing each and every button. He said it literally changed his outlook on life and on her as an individual. Someone who cares so much about each member of her band and demands so much from each of her students but never asks for more than she is willing to give herself; that is the type of teacher every parent wishes or should wish for their child. In her eighties, and retired today Miss Culp keeps an eye on over 40 years of students that have passed through her classroom to make sure they still live up to the personal level of excellence she instilled in them so many years ago.

In today’s school environment teachers can still change the life of a child reaching out for help, not only from the educational side, but also from the personal side. Schools more than ever are evaluated on test scores of student’s performance of their knowledge. What we tend to forget is that these tests cannot determine how motivated the child is. They only measure their knowledge. Millions of dollars have been spent on designing and administering these tests across the country as a measuring tool of the effectiveness of teachers, but we have to remember the homes that many students come from leave them little time to study after taking care of their brother, sisters, and grandparents. They are barely surviving themselves with the necessary emotional skills that they need to cope. So, more than ever, if we want kids to succeed we have to motivate them to success, not test how successful they are.

What good does it do the smartest child in the class if they cannot implement that knowledge or be motivated to implement it in the real world? We as educators must go beyond the written textbook but take a real interest in their personal development and teach them how to survive in the real world.

Steve Edwards’ Miracles Are Possible school seminar will instill in your students and teachers the need to go beyond the traditional textbook teaching method. The seminar will also prepare students to meet the challenges of the real world. They will learn that they can make a difference, overcome obstacles, achieve their dreams, and change the world regardless of where their life started out or is currently headed. Every child deserves the same opportunity to be shown the path to personal and professional excellence.

A mama eagle coaching her young eagle to fly walked with him from her nest to the edge of the mountain and said, “Come to the edge.”
The young eagle said, “It’s too high.”
“Come to the edge,” repeated the mother.
“I might fall,” whined the young eagle.
“Come to the edge.”
“I’m too scared.”
Finally the frightened eagle came close. The mother pushed him, and he flew. The young eagle now teaches others how to take chances. He shows them how to spread their wings and fly to heights they would have never imagined possible.

Call Steve today so he can show your students and teachers how they can climb that mountain and fly from the top. Take a chance and to spread your wings, achieve your dreams, stay motivated and fly among the knowledge and wisdom of the great leaders of yesterday to become the great leaders of tomorrow.

Let Steve Show You And Your Students How To Make This World A Better Place!

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