Best Friends

Bernie was the best friend I could ever ask for, and I look forward to acquiring a new canine best friend very soon.

Today though, I got to be the best friend. I stopped by one of our school programs, as I do occasionally but not as much as I would like. Eventually I sat down with Bryan and Jose, two fourth graders at Maxfield Elementary in St. Paul. Bryan asked me if I used to be a cop, and I laughed and said no. I asked him and Jose if they like cops, both said yes--which is good and not always the answer you get from our students. I asked Bryan if he ever thought about being a cop when he gets older, and he said yes. I encouraged him to do so, and told him I thought he'd make an excellent cop.

Bryan and Jose were both working on math, and I was impressed with the complexity of their assignment. The wonderful world of media does a good job of brainwashing us that kids from certain segments of society are dumb. This is false.

Bryan was pretty well into his work, and you could tell he is quite sharp and all he needed was a little repetition, repetition, repetition to be extremely adept. Jose had finished his worksheet, and eventually I asked if I could see it. A large portion of his answers were incorrect.

So I worked with them both, having them talk me through the problems until they led me to the answer. Jose is easily distracted, and I told him he seemed like the type of guy who just liked to fill in his worksheet so he could move on to something more fun. He said I was correct. Jose is certainly smart enough, he just needs to focus and slow down, so we talked about that. He settled in nicely soon after.

Within a half hour, we had finished both of their worksheets and talked about many things, including how important school work is. I didn't want to leave, but I needed to get to our other school. In fact, I kept saying, two more minutes, two more minutes. I wanted to stay and help, not only Bryan and Jose, but several others who were looking for some assistance.

The world needs more tutors, people like you. The positive influence a caring adult can have on a child and student is immeasurable. Too many kids are fully capable but have no support outside of their classroom teachers, who have 30 kids to work with at once. Each of us has the opportunity to make a significant difference in a young person's life and within your community, all in just a few minutes a week. Not near enough of us seize upon that opportunity.

As I said goodbye to Bryan and Jose, they both said, "Thank you for coming to help us today."

All three of us had new best friends on this day.