Day 8: Thursday, March 9, 2017
Lynn Bedard

Starfish

Devotion: In 19 years of teaching, I have met at least 3000 students. Occasionally, there is one who really doesn’t care about solving an algebra equation. He is just trying to survive. Before I tell you about one of them, a story…

“The Starfish Story”, adapted from the original story by Oren Eiseley.

An old man was walking on the beach after a storm. A woman was picking up starfish and throwing them in the ocean. He called out, “Why are you throwing starfish?” She replied, “The tide is going out, and they will die.” “But, there are thousands of starfish. You cannot possibly make a difference.” She threw another one. “I made a difference for that one.”

This student’s parents were both in prison. He was late to class every day, mad at the world, and clearly not interested in anything this old, square, white lady had to say. I tried to reach him, but he was failing and talked about dropping out and selling drugs.

One day, I put the class in groups, but every group said, “Don’t put him with us. He is trouble.” When he came in, I put him in his own group. He got mad. “I see how it is. None of y’all wanna work with me. Well, I don’t want to work with you either!” He turned his desk to the wall.

I let him stew a minute, but he kept peeking over his shoulder, and I saw my chance. I needed to draw him in. A few minutes later, he turned his desk forward, and said, “Miss, I’ve got a deal for you. If I pass your class, you have to shave your head”. (Where did THAT come from?) Shocked, I took my time answering. “I’ll tell you what… If you make an A in my class and pass all of your other classes… I will shave my head.”

Word got around and I found gifts of shaving cream in my teacher mailbox. He was like a whole new person: polite, on time, making good grades, staying out of trouble. I was getting a little worried about losing my pretty, curly, shoulder length hair, but if it would help him, it was worth it. Sadly, one day, there he was, slumped in a chair outside of the principal’s office. I asked what happened. “They jumped me after school and I had to fight back.” Zero tolerance would send him to alternative school. I said, “No… the little boy had to fight. The man could have walked away. You felt good when people respected what you were doing. After you serve your time, come back and do right. If you go to the streets, you’ll die. I was looking forward to losing my hair for you.”

He struggled but he finally graduated high school. I still have that shaving cream. So, the next time you see a starfish, throw it back. You can’t save them all, but you can save that one.