‘The Perfect Season’

On Friday October 30, 2009, on a magnificent Autumn evening made perfect by the presence of a full moon, perhaps the greatest football team to represent the long illustrious tradition at Fordson High School lost its first game of the ‘Perfect Season’ and lost some of its innocence as well. Young boys dropped to the ground in tears of agony and despair, only to rise and walk off the field as young men with their heads held high as they were escorted by their exceptional coaching staff and a supporting cast of administrators, teachers, family members and the hundreds of fans who supported and believed in them all season long.

As an observer from the sideline, I believed in them and followed them all season long. I guess on that Autumn evening, I lost some of my innocence as well. I was taken back to my high school days at Fordson when the football team (under the tutelage of Coach Charles Justice) made it to the Silverdome in Pontiac Michigan in 1981, and lost a nail-biter in the state championship final playoff game.

A great lesson to be learned by one and all, that from the ashes the phoenix must rise and will rise. ‘Perfect Season I’, will be followed by ‘Perfect Season II’. This is a high goal, a high standard with high expectations. Nothing else can be and will be acceptable. Nothing can replace ‘Perfect season I’ and erase the temporary disappointing setback except ‘Perfect Season II’.

If athletic excellence, high goals, and high expectations are demanded on the athletic field, it’s only fair and sensible to expect the same excellence and high standards in academia as well. Fordson is not only known for its athletic program and athletic prowess, rather it is also known for its academic achievement across the many successful generations of students it has honorably graduated.

To the athletes at Fordson high school (all the athletes), thank you for the ‘Perfect Season’. Thank you for stepping up and participating in the many athletic opportunities Fordson has to offer. Thank you for the many, many beautiful memories.

To the athletic director, coaches, teachers and event volunteers, thank you for being educators, leaders, motivators and a big brother or a big sister to the students. Thank you for being professionals in your craft and thank you for being there to pick up the pieces, to place that bandage, to heal that wound and most of all, thank you for making a difference.

This is my bitter sweet memory of the ‘Perfect Season’. Now that it is slowly slipping into the archives of our collective memories, the students need to focus on the academic side of their education. They need to take that drive from the athletic field into the classroom and continue to strive and push the envelope of success forward and think outside the box of limitations in order to dream the impossible and realize that dreams do come true for those who strive and achieve.   

In the end, the success in academia will overshadow other achievements, awards, and accolades. Academic success will be with you for a lifetime. It will become your career, your profession, and the number one factor that will determine your lifestyle, welfare, and wellbeing.

I wish you great success on and off the field as you traverse this final chapter in your high school careers. I look forward to seeing you succeed in life knowing that a teacher had a positive impact on your character, goals, and achievements.

                                                                                                Thank you Very Much!

——————————————————————————

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

——————————————————————————

Good Day Students!

Just when you thought it was over, another semester takes us back to yet another fascinating time period in modern US Government and US History. This is yet another reason why we study government and history. You need to know where you came from (past), where you currently are in the world (present) and where you are going tomorrow and beyond (future). Please read the chapter outline/class-notes/class-work/and homework every day for about 10 to 15 minutes. By the end of the week you will have learned the materials without frustrating yourself and without trying to cram all the information in one night of impossible memorizing (prior to the chapter test), finger pointing, name calling, making negative face gestures, saying hurtful statements, blaming the messenger (that would be me ‘Mohamed’ the messenger), or looking for a scapegoat to blame your worldly problems on. It is your responsibility as a mature young adult who is still in the process of learning and discovering life and hopefully thinking about college as a roadmap to success and a viable alternative to a lifetime of non-professional job(s) that will perhaps, lead you down a path of misery, un-fulfillment, utter emptiness, despair and many, many dead end jobs.

If you plan on living in that house on top of that hill, with that white picket fence and that well maintained lawn and that swimming pool, than you will most likely have to be a white-collar professional. Otherwise, you will be looking at that house from the outside and perhaps working on painting that picket fence, or maintaining that lawn, or cleaning that pool, or shoveling the snow off that long winding driveway.

I leave you to ponder which would you rather be, the house owner enjoying that view from the top of that hill with all its amenities or the maintenance crew that will be taking care of that house wishing they had tried a little harder in school, listened a little longer to that teacher explaining the lesson, maintained a higher grade point average (GPA), perhaps joined a club or tried out for one of the many sport teams, tried to attend college, and utilized your God giving talent and other learned and refined skill(s) to the best of your abilities.

I hope you choose the professional route and start acting like young professionals in class by being more responsible and pro-active in your own education. Do not blame the teacher or anyone else for any short falls in your performance or grades. You still have time to improve on your effort thus far. Take the opportunity and take up the challenge and join me and the rest of the class on this interesting professional fieldtrip of discovery and learning. I wish you the best in whatever decision you make. God bless you and learn well!