“Fanclub”

Dear Teacher,  

Philadelphia fans are infamous for being badly behaved.  Known as the meanest fans in baseball, they have decades of bad fan-behavior as irreparable proof.  In 1999, a cell phone was thrown at a St. Louis Cardinal outfielder.  Moreover, batteries were thrown at an opposing Mets fan in a later game.  In 2010, one fan intentionally thew up on an opposing fan and his 11-year old daughter.  Fans were so awful that a jail and courtroom were installed in the stadium basement to deal with unruly fans.

Last year, much to the chagrin of "the fighting Phil's," player Trey Turner was having the worst season of his life.  Gone from batting second to batting eighth, his average dropped substantially.  In a game against the Marlins, he went 0-5 in successful hits, losing the game.  His outfielding was poor too, making error after error that cost the Phillies games.  Yet, despite incessant booing of Phillies fans, TREY PLAYED ON.

Mid-season, social media sports influencer Philly Captain appealed to his 40,000 followers: "Let's not boo Trey Turner.  Instead, let's give him a standing ovation every time he bats."  

The very next night, when Trey Turner came to bat, he received a massive standing ovation from the crowd.  In response, Trey hit a solid, batting in a run.  The next day, with more standing ovations, there were more successful hits, including a home run.  Night after night, the applause yielded more home runs in a two week timeframe than Trey had scored in the previous two months!  The outcome?  Because Trey PLAYED ON, he led his team to 'war' and improved his game stats by fifty points!

And you, teacher, there in your classroom, sometimes get 'booed,' too.  You receive criticism and critique, faultfinding and flak.  You endure board blasts, parent disparagement, and student slams.  In short, school stakeholders are badly behaved fans.

Despite it all, YOU PLAY ON.  This may be a rough week, difficult semester, or hard year.  Yet, YOU PLAY ON.  You fight through the learning curve, the hostile parent, and the unsupportive board member.  You navigate the critical colleague, the lack of infrastructure, and the inexperienced administrator.  YOU PLAY ON.  

And your score?  It will improve because your fanbase is going to change.  It may be a drastic shift, led by your community's 'influencer,' or it may come in more subtle ways like your own mindset change.  But, like the Philly Captain, someone will advocate for you.  And when they do, they will shout of the great work you're doing: How you go the extra mile to go to bat for kiddos.  Educator, KEEP PLAYING ON.

Standing and applauding for you,
Mindy
Christian Educator & School Counselor