Saving Them, Saving Us

More school shootings.
Twice in the same school.
Once more on a university campus.

We ask why, but no one has an answer.

Here’s what I believe...
It’s not just the guns.
It’s not the locks, or the clear backpacks.

Sure, those things have their place — we all want to be safe.
But real solutions?
They’re found in the eyes of people on the front lines every single day.

The teachers.

I’m a teacher too. I remember my first terrifying days.
I taught art and earth science, and I was young.
The advice I got? Walk tall and carry a big stick.

So I tried.
I sent kids to the office.
I considered quitting more than once.

But then something shifted.

One day, instead of leading with fear or control,
I walked into my classroom and decided not to teach another lesson —
until I truly knew my students.

I sat down with them in a big circle… in each of my classes and laughed with them.
I listened to them. I played their music in class while they worked.
I made my lessons about their lives, their interests, their world.

Their assignments weren’t always great — but I told them I loved them anyway.
And then they tried harder,
because they thought I believed they were great.

And you know what?
I never had to refer a student again. Honest.

Because something powerful happens when a student knows you're in their corner.

Today, that lesson is more important than ever.

Our kids are emotionally exhausted.
Social media. Pressure. A constant fight to belong, to perform, to defend.
And COVID didn’t help — it pulled them even farther from us.

But you can be the one who brings them back.

If you’re a teacher, you have a chance — every day — to walk into your room and do one thing:
Find the student who gives you the most grief, and get to know them.

You may think you don’t have time.
But if you don’t make the time, you may never truly get to teach.

Those kids?
They need you more than any other student in the room.

And when you meet their needs —
you’ll find your own being met too.

Want help getting started?
Head to solutionfocusedschool.com - you’ll find free tools and new mindsets that can change everything — for you and your students.

This can save them.
And it can save you.