Be the Treasure Hunter someone needs

Be a dreamer and believe in others.

As school begins here, I wanted to share a thought from our district’s All-Staff Welcome Back event last week. It made me think a lot about how we perceive limits and what we see as worthy of our effort.

I’ll start by introducing our keynote speaker from that event: Rick Miller, Founder and CEO of Kids at Hope, which is an international youth development organization that studies family, school and community culture. At the core of Miller’s work is the belief that all students can succeed, no exceptions.

Years ago, when researchers began studying society, they began to label kids “at risk” of X or Y. So when Miller began his own research, he spun it to saying a kid was not “at risk” but “at hope.” This put a different meaning to difficult circumstances, struggles and any other barriers to success.

We had Miller speak to set the tone for another school year in which our educators will be the caring adults in students’ lives. They will pour into students and be “Treasure Hunters” who are intent on finding the unique gifts in students and believing in them even when they don’t believe in themselves.

We should all be Treasure Hunters – with anyone and everyone.

In baseball, a scout sits in the stands trying to notice a few intricacies that might set apart a player. A general manager has to fit pieces into a system, which requires an in-depth knowledge of how someone’s gifts will translate. A coach places hitters in the lineup based on how well they fit in a certain spot.

We all have talents and gifts. Some can be seen. Others are hidden – whether because we haven’t discovered them or haven’t had the courage to dive into them.

Going forward, be the Treasure Hunter someone needs. Help them extract those gifts. Encourage them to try and to give something a chance.

Whether with friends or colleagues or interns, we all have opportunities to help others notice their gifts and help position them to use those. We can make the choice to invest our time and effort into those around us, even when it doesn’t directly benefit us.

We need dreamers in this world. People who refuse to set limits on what’s possible. People who believe there is potential for good in anything. People who look at the logic and instead decide to follow their heart.

And, yes, realists have a place in our world as well. They’re making important decisions every day. This is not to discount them.

But we need people to believe.

To believe the best is yet to come. To believe someone can do something. To believe adverse circumstances don’t put someone “at risk” but instead make them “at hope.” To believe in the person next to them.

Jackie Robinson once said this:

“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”

In our schools, as is Miller’s philosophy, we believe all students are capable of success, no exceptions.

But guess what?

That doesn’t need to be confined to the walls of any school. You can replace “schools” with “lives” and “students” with “people.”