Today's students-in particular the students who may struggle the most - need something in life to aspire to.
This was one prominent theme in a presentation made by John Hope Bryant at the closing session of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) in San Diego on Feb. 21.
Bryant, the CEO and founder of Operation Hope, spoke of the importance of young people having an aspiration and how schools and communities must help them connect their education to those aspirations.
There is much at stake here if we fail; Bryant made that quite clear.
He said today's kids are on the bench and will get in the game to lead the team in the future. They need to be ready to be the business leaders of tomorrow.
"We can't afford to screw this up," he said. "If we do, we will become the country that used to lead the world."
He's right. It is in everyone's best interests to properly equip students to not only be self-sufficient, but to thrive. We must help each one find a successful venue in the free enterprise system.
Bryant's message resonates like that of the great American leader Booker T. Washington, who 100 years ago, talked about the freedom available to any American through economic advancement.
It was Washington who said, "No man, who continues to add something to the material, intellectual and moral well-being of the place in which he lives, is left long without proper reward." He also said, "Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work."
He believed that honest work included both opportunity and dignity, and even said there is "as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem."
In short, Washington believed a good work ethic and financial independence are the keys to equality and freedom.
Bryant seemed to concur. In a video on his website (operationhope.org), he said, "Today freedom is ... self-determination. You cannot self-determine yourself in the modern world except through commerce and economics."
In poor American neighborhoods, he explained, the only real dream that a young person may have is to make lots of money by being an athlete, a rap star or a drug dealer.
"If all you see," Bryant asked, "is a drug dealer, a rap star, or an athlete as the only symbols of prosperity, aspiration, and success, then guess what you wanna be?"
He explained that young people today need to find other pathways to financial security.
And the job for all of us, he said, is to help them see a way out and to equip them accordingly.
"We don't teach financial literacy," Bryant said. "We don't teach the language of money."
As a result, we don't know which individuals will be the future business leaders and entrepreneurs. Instead of grooming young people to be successful business owners or employees, we simply leave the entire matter to chance.
"We're driving the largest economy in the world blind-folded," Bryant said.
He called upon schools and communities to work together to provide valuable apprentice experiences for students and to use those experiences to help drive their educational ambitions.
"We need to show them how education will get them there," Bryant said. "Education is the ultimate poverty eradication tool."
David Wilson, EdD, is the associate principal at Jefferson City High School. You may e-mail him at [email protected].