Courage is Contagious

Rick Wormeli is an educator, author, and speaker who passionately believes in making the right changes in our schools to ensure student success. Any change, though, takes courage. Click here to read Mr. Wormeli's article on "The Courage It Takes" to be an educator for change. 

The main point of the article is that courage is contagious. When one person exhibits bravery it becomes easier for the next person. Wormeli recounts a conversation with a high school student about the growing influence of gangs. The student responded to Wormeli that "gangs are only as strong as the town lets them be." I see applications of this thought process with our own students and the formation of cliques or tolerance of bullying behavior. If students are brave enough, with the support of school staff and parents, these types of negative behaviors weake--our community won’t allow them to be strong.

In addition to the academic foundation and commitment to service we provide to our students, I truly hope their spiritual formation gives them the courage to be brave. Each day we are faced with opportunities to test our bravery--sometimes it is an act of bravery just to read the headlines: "Ebola Spreads," "ISIS Advances," and "Suicide Bombers Attack." These types of headlines can cause fear and uncertainty--the enemies of bravery and courage. A more local example, students may be afraid to speak up for a friend being called names for fear of what will happen to them or the uncertainty of what other people might think. Bravery, then, is overcoming fear to do what is right.

I heard a story about a recent CKS graduate who had a class debate in high school. The assignment was to pick a side of the pro-life vs pro-choice issue and to argue for your cause in front of the class. As the students were gathering research it became apparent that only the former Christ the King student would be arguing the side of pro-life. She became nervous and scared to be the only dissenting voice in her class of peers. She did, however, feel so strongly about the topic that she bravely defended her pro-life position alone. I am not sure how many students she was able to bring to her side, if any, but that is not the point. The point is that she was able to stand up for her beliefs and be a light in the darkness—what Christ calls of us to do, and what I hope all our students are brave enough to do both at Christ the King and when they leave.

As Don Bosco would often tell his boys, “Don’t be afraid, Our Lady will send us all that is necessary.” This summer, Lions, let us remember Our Lady and say at least one Hail Mary each day asking for Her to pray that God gives us the courage we need to be Agents of Change.