Teachers of any discipline know that hearing about the successes of past students is incredibly rewarding. Lately I have had a lot to celebrate.
One student has successfully published a memoir about his experience as an overweight child and his success in the Pediatric Weight Control Program. He has a book signing in August and has already been featured in a couple of news stories! Next he is on his way to LA and NYC!
Another student is on her way to play Division I water polo. Another has discovered rowing and is joining his high school crew team. And another student was one of two children's hospital patients asked to speak about his/her experiences with Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at the ground breaking ceremony for the new addition to the hospital. This student spoke about his experience in the Pediatric Weight Control Program and the increase in self-esteem that came with his weight loss. This was an honor that, admittedly, was not fully realized until we arrived! More about that later...
Despite these incredible successes I find that I spend a lot of time worrying about the few families that may not be succeeding, so much so that I sometimes lose sight of those students and families who are actually achieving their goals.
If a child or parent does not seem to be progressing as desired, hopefully I can still teach them tools that they can continue to use in the future. A perfect example is the water polo player. She had a lot of success as a student in the program about 5 years ago. When I saw her about 3-4 years ago she was still struggling with her weight. Now, a couple of years later, she contacted us to tell us that she is an athlete at a Division 1 college and credits her success (at least partially) to the tools she learned in our classroom!
One student has successfully published a memoir about his experience as an overweight child and his success in the Pediatric Weight Control Program. He has a book signing in August and has already been featured in a couple of news stories! Next he is on his way to LA and NYC!
Another student is on her way to play Division I water polo. Another has discovered rowing and is joining his high school crew team. And another student was one of two children's hospital patients asked to speak about his/her experiences with Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at the ground breaking ceremony for the new addition to the hospital. This student spoke about his experience in the Pediatric Weight Control Program and the increase in self-esteem that came with his weight loss. This was an honor that, admittedly, was not fully realized until we arrived! More about that later...
Despite these incredible successes I find that I spend a lot of time worrying about the few families that may not be succeeding, so much so that I sometimes lose sight of those students and families who are actually achieving their goals.
If a child or parent does not seem to be progressing as desired, hopefully I can still teach them tools that they can continue to use in the future. A perfect example is the water polo player. She had a lot of success as a student in the program about 5 years ago. When I saw her about 3-4 years ago she was still struggling with her weight. Now, a couple of years later, she contacted us to tell us that she is an athlete at a Division 1 college and credits her success (at least partially) to the tools she learned in our classroom!
No comments:
Post a Comment