“Continuous effort–not strength or intelligence–is the key to unlocking our potential.”
– Winston Churchill
It’s all about our students. We say this, we write this, we educators truly mean this! An example of how and why we all do what we do in education is captured in the video shared in this blog post. At Caruso Middle School in the Communications Media Arts (CMA) exploratory class, teacher Julie Witczak engages, inspires, and empowers students each and every day!
In the video below, “Brothers” “…is a story told by an 8th grader about his 6th grade brother and the bond they have.” I asked Julie to share with me the background from class about this awesome video project:
From Julie: “It actually started when we watched the movie “Front of the Class”. I carried this piece over from Skills 4 Life because it is an inspiring movie about a man who has Tourettes Syndrome and it took him 25 interviews to get a teaching job. At the end of the movie, we talked about abilities and I noticed that Jake didn’t say much at all. I approached him after and said “How come you didn’t share?” He said sometimes it is hard to share because it can be emotional. I said well you have a great story to share, maybe you should make a video so you can share your thoughts. The assignment was for 8th graders to create a video that tells a story they want to share with the world. They could really do anything and Jake decided to share his story. The cool part is that three other kids were involved with it and needed no credit at all or to be featured in the video. I was super impressed with them as most 8th graders enjoy their “stage time”.
This is why we do what we do!
I am so glad Jake took the opportunity to tell this story about his brother Josh. I could see it was done from the heart.
Terrific, meaningful assignment too!
HI Joe,
It really makes me proud to share such personalized meaningful work from our kids! Thank you for reading and sharing a comment.
Sincerely,
Mike
My class and I just viewed your presentation and we are grateful for your sharing your story with us. We celebrate differences in our class and your story reminds us of how important it is to accept each other and help one another whenever possible. You are a wonderful example of how love can make a difference to the world. What a loving relationship you have…brothers forever!!!
Cookie,
Thank you so much for sharing this comment with me! I am going to share with Julie and her students at Caruso!
Sincerely,
Mike
Very well done and touching!
Greg,
Thank you so much for reading and for commenting! The work we do at the Central Office is humanized and impactful when our teachers and students share with us the amazing work like that which we shared here.
ML