Teach A Man To Fish
I once had a student not come to school for two full weeks. When he finally showed up, he was limping and his foot was wrapped up in a large dirty ace bandage. I called him to my office after school that day to check in on him. He told me that he had been in the river fishing for his dinner two weeks ago and slipped on a rock.
He cut his foot so badly that he couldn’t walk until today to make it to school. I asked about going to the doctor but he hadn’t seen his parents in so long that he didn’t know how to get to them for help in getting to the hospital. I called Child Protective Services and got him as much help as they could offer. We soon found out that he was living in a tent because his house had been foreclosed on when his parents disappeared.
A bunch of teachers chipped in and got him groceries and clothes. We also started driving him places after that. Today, more than two years later, he’s working a decent job and one of our teachers still clothes and feeds him. The student is too prideful to live with anyone and kind of couch hops now. But he’s so strong and resilient. He’s an incredible human being and I think he will change the world one day.