"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give".
-Winston Churchill
''Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don't, then you are wasting your time on Earth.''
-Roberto Clemente
It's unfortunate, but there are very few young baseball players today who even know who the man pictured above is, or what makes his story so compelling. There are many, many reasons why Roberto Clemente should be revered as one of the most important men to ever don a major league uniform.
Let's start with the fact that he was an absolute star. In 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Clemente was an all-star 15 times. During that time, he also won the National League batting title four times, along with an astonishing 12 gold gloves.
Now let's move on to his groundbreaking efforts as a Latino player. Clemente, a native Puerto Rican, was the first Latino player in Major Leauge Baseball to win the World Series as a starter (1960), win the National Leauge MVP award (1966), and win the World Series MVP award (1971). In addition to all of this, he served his country as a member of the United States Marine Corps Reserve from 1958-1959.
Clemente recorded his 3,000th career hit on September 30, 1972. His career, and his life, would end soon thereafter.
More than any of the above accomplishments on the field, Roberto Clemente ought to be remembered for his service to those less fortunate. His career finished with exactly 3,000 hits because on December 23, 1972, the plane which was carrying him to Nicaragua crashed into the Carribean Sea. In just another of his many philanthropic efforts, Clemente was on his way to help the victims of a massive earthquake that had taken place there. When he learned that the first few shipments of relief supplies had been intercepted by the corrupt Somoza government, Clemente took it upon himself to personally fly down to the ravaged community and ensure that help was delivered where it was needed. He literally gave his life to those less fortunate.
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As we strive to develop a more well-rounded student who is prepared to function appropriately in a global workplace, it's important that we, as educators, understand the often underestimated value of community service and service learning in our schools. Research suggests that service learning isn't just about having an entire school "do something good" for the community to force students into a public relations win for a school district. The following are just some of the positive effects that a well-structured community service program can provide for a school and its students:
- less stress, more life satisfaction
- that "feel good feeling"
- improved mental health
- development of communication skills
- increased opportunities for at-risk students
- political and civic awareness
- exposure to diversity
In addition, a recent survey of students who participated in community service efforts showed that 82% generally felt more positive feelings about attending school, and another 64% felt that a service learning program would have a large effect on lowering the drop-out rate among high school students.
There are a myriad of reasons for doing so, but the message is clear: it's time to give back.
Over the last nine years, I've been fortunate to work in a district that whole-heartedly embraces the concept of community service. Recently, through the efforts of Community Outreach Coordinator Dominic Manola, Leyden students have been exposed to a variety of service projects at every point of the school year, and beyond.
One such project, our St. Baldrick's campaign, is near and dear to my heart. Seven years ago, Brent Dempsey and myself decided to get West Leyden involved with this charity, whose mission is simple: shave your head in solidarity with children who are undergoing cancer treatments, and raise money to fund Pediatric Cancer research.
Over the past seven years, the fundraiser has grown to become a part of the culture of both of our buildings . Hundreds of students and teachers (both male and female) have participated by having their heads shaved during our annual Safe Celebration Week. During that time, the Leyden community has raised close to $100,000 for Pediatric Cancer research, a fundraising goal we set at the beginning of this year's campaign. As a result of our meeting that goal, I will be getting the following tattoo next week:
Now, there are obvious positive impacts to the outside world from such endeavors. Raising that kind of money for a very worthwhile cause is great. Seeing students come together as a student body for a common cause melts my heart. But there's more to it than that. There are dozens of stories that come out of service projects throughout schools in America which back up the research cited earlier. Here are just a few:
- A few years ago, as I sat in the student cafeteria asking students to donate their loose change to the cause, a young lady in a wheelchair approached me with her aide. This girl had been struggling with an undiagnosed, life-threatening disease throughout her entire time at East Leyden, and had seen her health decline steadily over the years. As the lunch period ended and the students began to exit, she pulled a $100 bill out of her purse and handed it to me. Her words: "My grandma gave me $100 for my birthday, and told me I could do whatever I wanted with it. Over the years, I have spent many days and nights in hospitals and places like the Ronald McDonald House. If it hadn't been for people helping my family out, we would have never been able to get the treatments I needed. I want to give back. I want my $100 to go to this cause."
- Last year, a female student approached me about having her head shaved. After several conversations about the implications behind a 16-year-old girl agreeing to shave her head, she informed me about some very personal reasons behind her decision to do so. This year, she did it...again. This young lady raised over $1000 for Pediatric Cancer research.
- A young man who may have spent as much time in the dean's office as I have over the past four years walked in one day and said he wanted to participate in St. Baldrick's. For him, this meant not only shaving his head, but cutting off the 10-inch pony tail he had been growing for three years. He was able to raise hundreds of dollars for St. Baldrick's, and even mailed the pony tail in to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, a charity which uses human hair to make wigs for cancer patients.
- Just last week, a student emailed our principal with a video link about a little boy who was able to live out a life-long dream through the help of the WWE. He suggested that this video could be used as a promo for next year's St. Baldrick's event. Here's that video (have some tissue handy):
I hope you don't view this as shameless self-promotion. There's a point here. Every one of the students mentioned in the bullet points above, no matter how different and unique their experiences, had one thing in common: by giving back, they were able to feel as though they, themselves, were a part of something.
In my seven years of involvement with St. Baldrick's, that's one factor I've noticed to be a common trend. Our volunteer shavees tend not to be our star athletes, AP students, and members of the ultra-involved student body. To the contrary, many of the students who agree to take part in this are those who, for the most part, have never quite been able to find a niche in their high school experiences. Yet the looks on their faces on the night of the head-shaving event clearly shows a sense of accomplishment, pride, and belonging.
I have no doubt that, when asked to reflect back on their high school experiences 20 years from now, shaving their heads for a greater cause will be right on the tip of their tongues.
By encouraging students to give back, we are, in fact, giving them a gift in disguise.
